Editing Taiwan Relations Act

{{short description|United States legislation}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name = Taiwan Relations Act
| fullname = An act to help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and for other purposes.
| acronym = TRA
| nickname = 
| enacted by = 96th
| effective date = January 1, 1979
| public law url = 
| cite public law = {{USPL|96|8}}
| cite statutes at large = {{USStat|93|14}}
| acts amended = 
| title amended = [[Title 22 of the United States Code|22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse]]
| sections created = {{Usc-title-chap|22|48}} § 3301 et seq.
| sections amended = 
| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:HR02479:@@@S
| introducedin = House
| introducedbill = "United States-Taiwan Relations Act" ([https://www.congress.gov/bill/96th-congress/house-bill/2479 H.R. 2479]
| introducedby = [[Clement J. Zablocki]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[Wisconsin|WI]])
| introduceddate = February 28, 1979
| committees = [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|House Foreign Affairs]]
| passedbody1 = House
| passeddate1 = March 13, 1979
| passedvote1 = 345–55
| passedbody2 = Senate
| passeddate2 = March 14, 1979
| passedvote2 = 90–6
| conferencedate = March 24, 1979
| passedbody3 = House
| passeddate3 = March 28, 1979
| passedvote3 = 339–50
| passedbody4 = Senate
| passeddate4 = March 29, 1979
| passedvote4 = 85–4
| signedpresident = [[Jimmy Carter]]
| signeddate = April 10, 1979
| amendments = 
| SCOTUS cases = 
}}
The '''Taiwan Relations Act''' ('''TRA'''; {{USStatute|96|8|93|14|1979|04|10|hr|2479}}) is an [[Act of Congress|act]] of the [[United States Congress]]. Since the [[Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations|formal recognition]] of the [[China|People's Republic of China]], the Act has defined the officially substantial but non-diplomatic relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Taiwan]] (Republic of China).

==Background==
At [[The Third Plenum]] in 1978, [[Deng Xiaoping]] became the [[paramount leader]] of the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC), definitively ending [[Maoism|Maoist]] rule and beginning the [[Gaige Kaifang|reform era]] of Chinese history. During his speech at the plenum, he outlined a new [[Foreign relations of China#People.27s Republic of China|Chinese foreign policy]], whereby the [[Soviet Union]]—not the United States, as in the past—was identified as the main [[National security of the People's Republic of China|national security threat]] to China. During this time, China regarded itself as in a "[[united front]]" with the U.S., Japan, and western Europe against the Soviets.<ref name="Dittmer">{{cite book|title=Remaking the Chinese State: Strategies, Society, and Security |editor1-first=Jianmin |editor1-last=Zhao |editor2-first=Bruce| editor2-last=Dickson|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|chapter=Reform and Chinese foreign policy|first=Lowell|last=Dittmer|pages=179}}</ref> and thus [[Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations|established relations with the United States]], China also supported American [[Operation Cyclone]] actions in [[Communist Afghanistan]] and leveled [[Sino-Vietnamese War|a military expedition]] against Vietnam, America's main antagonist in Southeast Asia. In exchange, the United States abrogated its [[Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty|mutual defense treaty]] (SAMDT) with the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] (ROC).

The ROC government mobilized the [[China Lobby]] in the United States to lobby Congress for the swift passage of an American security guarantee for the island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ling |first1=Huping |last2=Austin |first2=Allan W. |title=Asian American History and Culture |date=17 March 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-47645-0 |page=142 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Newsom |first1=David D. |title=The Public Dimension of Foreign Policy |date=1996 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21024-1 |page=191 |language=en}}</ref> Taiwan could appeal to members of Congress on many fronts: [[anti-communist]] China sentiment, a shared wartime history with the ROC, [[Human rights in China|Beijing's human rights violations]] (despite [[White Terror (Taiwan)|committing violations of its own]]) and its [[Freedom of religion in China|curtailment of religious freedoms]].<ref name="Dittmer">{{cite book|title=Remaking the Chinese State: Strategies, Society, and Security |editor1-first=Jianmin |editor1-last=Zhao |editor2-first=Bruce| editor2-last=Dickson|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|chapter=Reform and Chinese foreign policy|first=Lowell|last=Dittmer|pages=179}}</ref><ref>ROBERT GREEN, [http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=53214&ctNode=2177 Mixed Signals], [[Taiwan Today]], 07/01/2009</ref>

Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] and other members of the [[United States Congress]] challenged the right of President [[Jimmy Carter]] to cancel SAMDT unilaterally, which the US had signed with the ROC in December 1954 and was ratified by the [[U.S. Senate]] in February 1955. Goldwater and his co-filers of the [[US Supreme Court]] case ''[[Goldwater v. Carter]]'' argued that the President required Senate approval to take such an action of termination, under [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Section 2: Presidential powers|Article II, Section II]] of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]], and that by not doing so, President Carter had acted beyond the powers of his office. The case ultimately was dismissed as non-justiciable and left open the constitutional question regarding a president's authority to dismiss a treaty unilaterally.<ref name=ait>[https://www.ait.org.tw/en/sino-us-mutual-defense-treaty-1954.html China Mutual Defense (1954)], [[American Institute in Taiwan]]</ref>

The Act was passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Carter in 1979 after the breaking of relations between the US and the ROC. Congress rejected the [[U.S. State Department]]'s proposed draft and replaced it with language that has remained in effect since 1979. The TRA is intended to maintain commercial, cultural, and other relations through the unofficial relations in the form of a nonprofit corporation incorporated under the laws of the [[District of Columbia]], the [[American Institute in Taiwan]] (AIT), without official government representation or formal diplomatic relations.<ref name=ucsb>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32177 April 10, 1979: Taiwan Relations Act Statement on Signing H.R. 2479 Into Law], [[UCSD]]</ref> The Act entered retroactively into force, effective January 1, 1979.

==Provisions==
===Definition of Taiwan===
The act does not recognize the terminology of "Republic of China" after 1 January 1979, but uses the terminology of "governing authorities on Taiwan". Geographically speaking and following the similar content in the earlier [[Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty|defense treaty]] from 1955, it defines the term "Taiwan" to include, as the context may require, the [[island of Taiwan]] (the main Island) and the [[Pescadores]] (Penghu). Of [[List of islands of Taiwan|the other islands or archipelagos]] under the control of the Republic of China, [[Kinmen]], the [[Matsu Islands|Matsu]]s, etc., are left outside the definition of Taiwan.<ref>{{cite report | author = 陳鴻瑜 | title = 台灣法律地位之演變（1973-2005） | url = http://tkuir.lib.tku.edu.tw:8080/dspace/bitstream/987654321/7928/1/962414H032006.pdf | publisher = 淡江大學東南亞研究所 | location = [[臺北縣]] | date = July 20, 2008 | page = 9 | quote = 對於台灣的定義是規定在第十五條第二款：「台灣一詞：包括台灣島及澎湖群島，這些島上的居民，依據此等島所實施的法律而成立的公司或其他法人，以及1979年1月1日前美國所承認為中華民國的台灣統治當局與任何繼位統治當局（包括其政治與執政機構。）」從而可知，台灣關係法所規範的台灣只包括台灣和澎湖群島，並不包括金門、馬祖等外島。}}</ref><!-- {{citation needed span|Also any area claimed by the authorities, but not under their control, is without mention.|date=August 2019|reason=Citation of a legal analysis of the Taiwan Relations Act is needed to confirm these conclusions. For instance, what about Green Island, Taiwan and Orchid Island? They aren't part of the Pescadores. Some kind of citation is needed from legal experts.}}-->

===''De facto'' diplomatic relations===
The act authorizes ''[[de facto]]'' [[diplomatic relations]] with the governing authorities by giving special powers to the AIT to the level that it is the [[de facto embassy|''de facto'' embassy]], and states that any international agreements made between the ROC and U.S. before 1979 are still valid unless otherwise terminated. One agreement that was [[unilateral]]ly terminated by President [[Jimmy Carter]] upon the establishment of relations with the PRC was the [[Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty]].

The TRA provides for Taiwan to be treated under U.S. laws the same as "foreign countries, nations, states, governments, or similar entities", thus treating Taiwan as a sub-sovereign foreign state equivalent. The act provides that for most practical purposes of the U.S. government, the absence of diplomatic relations and [[recognition (diplomacy)|recognition]] will have no effect.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive_Index/Taiwan_Relations_Act.html Taiwan Relations Act: Public Law 96-8 96th Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518032145/https://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive_Index/Taiwan_Relations_Act.html |date=2008-05-18 }} Sec. 4 under APPLICATION OF LAWS; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS</ref>

===Military provisions===
{{See also|List of US arms sales to Taiwan}}
The TRA does not guarantee or relinquish the U.S. intervening militarily if the PRC attacks or invades Taiwan, as its primary purpose is to ensure that the Taiwan policy will not be changed unilaterally by the U.S. president and ensure any decision to defend Taiwan will be made with the consent of the Congress. The act states that "the United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability" and "shall maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Law 96-8 |author=96th United States Congress |url=https://www.congress.gov/96/statute/STATUTE-93/STATUTE-93-Pg14.pdf  |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office |date=April 10, 1979 |access-date=October 15, 2024  |location=Washington, D C.}}</ref> However, the decision about the nature and quantity of defense services that America will provide to Taiwan is to be determined by the President and Congress. America's policy has been called "[[strategic ambiguity]]," and it is designed to dissuade Taiwan from a unilateral declaration of independence, and to dissuade the PRC from unilaterally unifying Taiwan with the PRC.{{citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=entire section is unsourced}}

The TRA further stipulates that the United States will "consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by [[boycotts]] or [[Economic sanctions|embargoes]], a threat to the [[peace]] and [[International security|security]] of the [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]] area and of grave concern to the United States".

The TRA requires the United States to have a policy "to provide Taiwan with [[armaments|arms]] of a [[defense (military)|defensive]] character" and "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of [[coercion]] that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan".

Successive U.S. administrations have sold arms to Taiwan despite demands from the PRC that the U.S. follow [[Three Communiqués|Three Joint Communiqués]] and the U.S. government's proclaimed [[One-China policy]].

==Reaction and reaffirmation==
The TRA's passage caused Chinese leader [[Deng Xiaoping]] to begin viewing the United States as an insincere partner willing to abandon its previous commitments to China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1332788951 |title=The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |pages=55 |oclc=1332788951}}</ref>

===Reagan administration===
{{see also|Six Assurances}}
The PRC aligned itself with the [[Third World]] countries rather than with the United States or the Soviet Union, engaging itself in various movements such as [[nuclear non-proliferation]] that would allow it to critique the [[superpower]]s.<ref name="Dittmer"/> In the [[August 17th communique]] of 1982, the United States agreed to reduce arms sales to Taiwan. However, it also declared that it would not formally recognize PRC's [[sovereignty]] over Taiwan, as part of the [[Reagan administration]]'s [[Six Assurances]] offered to Taipei in 1982.

===Clinton administration=== 
In the late 1990s, the [[United States Congress]] passed a [[non-binding resolution]] stating that relations between Taiwan and the United States will be honored through the TRA first. This resolution, which puts greater weight on the TRA's value over that of the three communiques, was signed by President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/56/cosponsors H.Con.Res.56 - Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act.], [[Congress.gov]], 3/17/1999</ref><ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/53/cosponsors H.Con.Res.53 - Concerning the Taiwan Relations Act.], [[Congress.gov]], 3/11/1999</ref> Both chambers of Congress have repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of the TRA.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/117/cosponsors H.Con.Res.117 - Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Government should reaffirm its unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act as the cornerstone of United States relations with Taiwan, and for other purposes.], [[Congress.gov]], 3/25/2003</ref>

===Since 2000===
A July 2007 Congressional Research Service Report confirmed that U.S. policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan.<ref>[http://www.taiwanbasic.com/nstatus/crs-report.htm CRS Report to Congress]</ref> The PRC continues to view the TRA as "an unwarranted intrusion by the United States into the internal affairs of China".<ref>[http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/xw/t143465.htm Embassy of the People's Republic of China: China opposes US congress' resolution on Taiwan] (19/07/2004)</ref> The United States has continued to supply Taiwan with armaments and China has continued to protest.<ref name=NYT122415>{{cite news|author1=The Editorial Board|title=China's Tantrum on Taiwan Arms Deal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/opinion/chinas-tantrum-on-taiwan-arms-deal.html|access-date=December 25, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=December 24, 2015|quote=The new arms package, which includes two navy frigates, antitank missiles, combat systems for minesweepers, amphibious attack vehicles and communications systems....}}</ref>

====Bipartisan affirmation (2016)====
On 19 May 2016, one day before [[Tsai Ing-wen]] assumed the democratically elected [[President of the Republic of China|presidency of the Republic of China]], U.S. Senators [[Marco Rubio]] ([[GOP|R]]-[[Florida|FL]]), a member of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] and [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] and [[Bob Menendez]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]-[[New Jersey|NJ]]), former chair of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] and co-chair of the [[Senate Taiwan Caucus]], introduced a concurrent resolution reaffirming the TRA and the "[[Six Assurances]]" as cornerstones of [[United States–Taiwan relations]].<ref>[https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/menendez-rubio-six-assurances-continued-foundation-of-us-taiwan-relations Menendez, Rubio: "Six Assurances" Continued Foundation of U.S.-Taiwan Relations], Senator [[Bob Menendez]], May 19, 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/mobile/press-releases?ID=A3798D0D-F6AD-4538-ADC4-B85ACDEBA04E-33k Rubio, Menendez: ‘Six Assurances’ Continued Foundation Of U.S.-Taiwan Relations], Senator [[Marco Rubio]], May 19, 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-concurrent-resolution/38 S.Con.Res.38 - A concurrent resolution reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as cornerstones of United States-Taiwan relations.], [[Congress.gov]], May 19, 2016</ref>
<!-- belongs on RNC page 
The [[2016 Republican National Convention]] in the Republican Party Platform states "[[Taiwan–United States relations|Our relations]] will continue to be based upon the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act, and we affirm the [[Six Assurances]] given to Taiwan in 1982 by [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]]. We oppose any unilateral steps by either side to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Straits on the principle that all issues regarding the island’s future must be resolved peacefully, through dialogue, and be agreeable to the [[people of Taiwan]]. If China were to violate those principles, the United States, in accord with the Taiwan Relations Act, will help Taiwan defend itself... As a loyal friend of America, Taiwan has merited our strong support, including [[free trade agreement]] status, the timely sale of defensive arms including technology to build [[diesel submarines]]..."<ref>[https://www.gop.com/the-2016-republican-party-platform/ The 2016 Republican Party Platform], [[Republican National Committee]], July 18, 2016</ref>
-->

==See also==
* [[American defense of Taiwan]]
* [[Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014]]
* [[Taiwan Travel Act]] (2018)
* [[Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act|TAIPEI Act]] 
* [[Political status of Taiwan]]
* [[Foreign relations of Taiwan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
*[https://www.ait.org.tw/our-relationship/policy-history/key-u-s-foreign-policy-documents-region/taiwan-relations-act/ Text of the Taiwan Relations Act]
*[http://www.taiwanbasic.com/nstatus/guidance.htm Mandatory Guidance from Department of State Regarding Contact with Taiwan]
*[http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/ash-taiwan-anniv-apr09 Taiwan Relations Act 30 Years Later]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100213205746/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/04_taiwan_bush.aspx Thoughts on the Taiwan Relations Act]
*[https://carnegieendowment.org/events/?fa=eventDetail&id=1067&lang=en The Taiwan Relations Act at Thirty]
*[http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=906424 Taiwan Relations Act Needs Reaffirmation]
*[http://www.nixoncenter.org/THOMPSON-TAIWAN-RELATIONS-CONFERENCE.pdf The Future of the Taiwan Relations Act and U.S.-Taiwan Relations]
*[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication-series/taiwan-relations-act-time-for-change Taiwan Relations Act: Time for a Change? Policy Brief Series]

{{Foreign relations of the United States}}
{{Foreign relations of Taiwan}}
{{Taiwan–United States relations}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1979 in American law]]
[[Category:Taiwan–United States relations]]
[[Category:United States foreign relations legislation]]
[[Category:96th United States Congress]]
[[Category:1979 in international relations]]
[[Category:China–United States relations]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of Taiwan]]<!--Taiwan, 1945-present-->
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States]]