Taiwan Relations Act
Encyclopedia
The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ; ) is an act
of the United States Congress
passed in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations
with the People's Republic of China
(PRC) and the breaking of relations between the United States and the Republic of China
(ROC) on the island of Taiwan
by President
Jimmy Carter
. It more clearly defines the American position on Taiwan and its cross-strait relationship
with Beijing. Congress rejected the State Department's proposed draft and replaced it with language that has remained in effect since 1979.
diplomatic relations with the "governing authorities on Taiwan" (the Republic of China government) by giving special powers to the American Institute in Taiwan
to the level that it is the de facto
embassy, and states that any international obligations previously made between the ROC and U.S. before 1979 are still valid unless otherwise terminated. One agreement that was unilaterally terminated by President Jimmy Carter
upon the establishment of relations was the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty
; that termination was the subject of the Supreme Court case Goldwater v. Carter
.
The act provides for Taiwan to be treated under U.S. laws the same as "foreign countries, nations, states, governments, or similar entities". The act provides that for most practical purposes of the U.S. government, the absence of diplomatic relations and recognition will have no effect.
The act does not recognize the terminology of "Republic of China" after Jan. 1, 1979. It defines the term "Taiwan" to include, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan
(the main Island) and Penghu, which form the Taiwan Province
and Taipei and Kaohsiung cities. The act does not apply to Jinmen, the Matsu
s, the Pratas
or Taiping Island.
The act stipulates that the United States will "consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycott
s or embargo
es, a threat to the peace
and security
of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States".
This act also requires the United States "to provide Taiwan with arms of a 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 the ROC in compliance with the Taiwan Relations Act despite demands from the PRC that the U.S. following legally non-binding Three Joint Communiques
and the U.S. government's proclaimed One-China policy
(which differs from the PRC's One-China Policy). The Taiwan Relations Act does not require the U.S. to intervene militarily if the PRC attacks or invades Taiwan, and the U.S. has adopted a policy of "strategic ambiguity" in which the U.S. neither confirms nor denies that it would intervene in such a scenario.
were signed in 1972, 1979, and 1982. The United States declared that the United States would not formally recognize PRC's sovereignty
over Taiwan as part of the Six Assurances
offered to Taipei in 1982. 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
as well. A July 2007 Congressional Research Service Report confirmed that US policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan.
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
with the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC) and the breaking of relations between the United States and the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC) on the island of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. It more clearly defines the American position on Taiwan and its cross-strait relationship
Cross-Strait relations
Cross-Strait relations refers to the relations between People's Republic of China and the Republic of China , which lie to the west and east, repectively, of the Taiwan Strait in the west Pacific Ocean....
with Beijing. Congress rejected the State Department's proposed draft and replaced it with language that has remained in effect since 1979.
Provisions
The act authorizes de factoDe facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
diplomatic relations with the "governing authorities on Taiwan" (the Republic of China government) by giving special powers to the American Institute in Taiwan
American Institute in Taiwan
The American Institute in Taiwan is a non-profit, public corporation established under the auspices of the United States government to serve its interests in Taiwan...
to the level that it is the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
embassy, and states that any international obligations previously made between the ROC and U.S. before 1979 are still valid unless otherwise terminated. One agreement that was unilaterally terminated by President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
upon the establishment of relations was the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was a treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China; it was signed on December 2, 1954 at the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei and came into force on March 3, 1955...
; that termination was the subject of the Supreme Court case Goldwater v. Carter
Goldwater v. Carter
Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 , was a United States Supreme Court case which was the result of a lawsuit filed by Senator Barry Goldwater and other members of the United States Congress challenging the right of President Jimmy Carter to unilaterally nullify the Sino-American Mutual Defense...
.
The act provides for Taiwan to be treated under U.S. laws the same as "foreign countries, nations, states, governments, or similar entities". The act provides that for most practical purposes of the U.S. government, the absence of diplomatic relations and recognition will have no effect.
The act does not recognize the terminology of "Republic of China" after Jan. 1, 1979. It defines the term "Taiwan" to include, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(the main Island) and Penghu, which form the Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...
and Taipei and Kaohsiung cities. The act does not apply to Jinmen, the Matsu
Matsu Islands
The Matsu Islands are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County , Fujian Province of the Republic of China . Only a small area of what is historically Lienchiang County is under the control of the ROC...
s, the Pratas
Pratas Islands
The Pratas Islands or Dongsha Islands consists of three islands forming from an atoll located in northeastern South China Sea, southeast of Hong Kong. The islands are governed by the Republic of China . The People's Republic of China claims sovereignty over these islands along with all other...
or Taiping Island.
The act stipulates that the United States will "consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s or embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
es, a threat to the peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
and security
International security
International security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions. International and national security...
of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States".
This act also requires the United States "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
character", and "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan." Successive U.S. administrations have sold arms to the ROC in compliance with the Taiwan Relations Act despite demands from the PRC that the U.S. following legally non-binding Three Joint Communiques
Three Communiques
The Three Communiqué or The Three Joint Communiqués are a collection of three joint statements made by the governments of the United States and the People's Republic of China. The communiqué played a crucial role in the normalization of relations between the U.S. and the P.R.C...
and the U.S. government's proclaimed One-China policy
One-China policy
The One-China policy refers to the policy or view that there is only one state called "China", despite the existence of two governments that claim to be "China"....
(which differs from the PRC's One-China Policy). The Taiwan Relations Act does not require the U.S. to intervene militarily if the PRC attacks or invades Taiwan, and the U.S. has adopted a policy of "strategic ambiguity" in which the U.S. neither confirms nor denies that it would intervene in such a scenario.
Reactions
The PRC views the Taiwan Relations Act as "an unwarranted intrusion by the United States into the internal affairs of China." The Three Joint CommuniquesThree Communiques
The Three Communiqué or The Three Joint Communiqués are a collection of three joint statements made by the governments of the United States and the People's Republic of China. The communiqué played a crucial role in the normalization of relations between the U.S. and the P.R.C...
were signed in 1972, 1979, and 1982. The United States declared that the United States would not formally recognize PRC's sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
over Taiwan as part of the Six Assurances
Six Assurances
The Six Assurances are guidelines used in conducting relations between the United States of America and the Republic of China . They were proposed in 1982 by the Republic of China during negotiations between the United States and People's Republic of China over the Joint Communique on Arms Sales to...
offered to Taipei in 1982. In the late 1990s, the United States Congress passed a non-binding resolution
Non-binding resolution
A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion....
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
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
as well. A July 2007 Congressional Research Service Report confirmed that US policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan.
See also
- Political status of TaiwanPolitical status of TaiwanThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
- Legal status of TaiwanLegal status of TaiwanThe legal status of Republic of China is a controversial issue which stems from the complex post-Second World War history of Taiwan. Various claims have been made by the People's Republic of China , the Republic of China , and supporters of Taiwan independence over this question, with a variety of...
- Foreign relations of the Republic of ChinaForeign relations of the Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is recognized by sovereign states. The course of the foreign relations of the ROC is dominated by maintaining diplomatic relations with these countries, as well as unofficial relations with other countries via its de facto embassies and...
External links
- Text of the Taiwan Relations Act
- Mandatory Guidance from Department of State Regarding Contact with Taiwan
- Taiwan Relations Act 30 Years Later
- Thoughts on the Taiwan Relations Act
- The Taiwan Relations Act at Thirty
- Taiwan Relations Act Needs Reaffirmation
- The Future of the Taiwan Relations Act and U.S.-Taiwan Relations