Taiwan Travel Act
Pub. L.115–135 (text) (PDF) | |
Legislative history | |
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The Taiwan Travel Act (H.R. 535,
The law is considered a substantial upgrade to
Background
When the U.S. established diplomatic relations with the
In 2016, the Taiwan Travel Act was introduced to the U.S. Congress by Representative
Chinese pressure on Congress
In August 2017,
American responses
One Democratic aide said: “Making these sorts of threats and laying down ‘red lines’ on domestic legislative action is neither helpful or constructive to build the sort of relationship needed between the United States and China.”[5] The Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin noted:
Other congressional aides said that no other embassy uses threats as a tactic to influence Congress, especially not via an official communication. Most embassies try to build relationships and persuade U.S. policymakers to support what they believe is in their national interest. But not China.[5]
Ranking House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY) said in response:
“China carries out this kind of heavy-handed behavior with other countries around the world. It's interesting to me that they now feel that they can get away with these kind of threats and vague pressure tactics with the U.S. Congress.”[5]
It has been suggested that China's heavy-handed tactics and direct threats to United States Congress through official communications backfired, by forcing Congress to make a show of force against perceived Chinese bullying.[6]
Legislative history
On October 12, 2017, the
In January 2018, the bill was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives.[9] Shortly afterwards, it was also passed unanimously by the Senate on February 28.[1] President Donald Trump signed the Act into law on March 16, 2018.[1]
Provisions
Provisions of the Taiwan Travel Act state that the U.S. should:[10]
- Allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts;
- Allow high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the United States under respectful conditions and to meet with U.S. officials;
- Encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan to conduct business in the United States.
Reaction
Taiwan
In January 2018, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen expressed her gratitude to the U.S. Congress for "supporting Taiwan's democracy" through her Twitter account, stating she believed the Taiwan Travel Act would "strengthen and enhance the long-standing partnership between the two sides."[11] Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also showed its support for the bill, saying Taiwan was "committed to fostering an upgraded strategic partnership with the U.S."[11]
People's Republic of China
The Chinese state-controlled
Aftermath
In September 2018, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce led a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers to Taiwan, where he was awarded the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon from President Tsai Ing-wen for his "outstanding contributions to Taiwan's development".[12][13] Royce had previously been awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon in 2015.[14]
Upon receiving his accolade from President Tsai on September 1, Royce said:
“I am honored to receive the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon and view it as a symbol of the
stopover on transit flights to the Caribbean and South America.[15] Tsai was the first Taiwanese president to visit UN ambassadors of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in New York since the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979. In New York, she also met with a U.S. congressional delegation headed by U.S. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX). In Denver, she met with the governor of Colorado, some U.S. congress members and mayors from the local area and visited the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.[16][17]On August 2, 2022,
U.S. Congress's commitment to Taiwan.[18] FAPA President Minze Chien said, "With Speaker Pelosi’s trip, it is very gratifying for us Taiwanese Americans to see this further implementation of the 2018 Taiwan Travel Act and a further loosening of restrictions on U.S. high-level visits to and from Taiwan. FAPA is very proud of the coming to fruition of this Act. Next, it behooves the U.S. Congress to invite Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to Washington, DC, to share with members of Congress and with the American public her views on the best ever U.S.-Taiwan relations in history that we witness today."[19] This Congressional Delegation trip (CODEL) embodies the type of high level exchange that the Taiwan Travel Act adopted in 2018 and supported in ALEC model policy was meant to facilitate.[20]See also
- TAIPEI Act
- Six Assurances
- Political status of Taiwan
- Foreign relations of Taiwan § United States
- Taiwan–United States relations
- China–United States relations
- Cross-Strait relations
- Two Chinas
References
- ^ a b c "US Senate passes Taiwan Travel Act". Taipei Times. March 2, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ Bodeen, Christopher (March 2, 2018). "China Lashes Out at U.S. Over Loosening of Taiwan Travel Rules". Bloomberg News. Associated Press. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b "US House passes Taiwan Travel Act". Taipei Times. January 11, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Tiezzi, Shannon (March 3, 2018). "US Paves Way for High-Level Exchanges With Taiwan". The Diplomat. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Rogin, Josh (October 12, 2017). "China threatens U.S. Congress for crossing its 'red line' on Taiwan". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b c Charlotte, Gao (October 17, 2017). "China's Lobbying Against the Taiwan Travel Act Backfires". The Diplomat. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b "Foreign Affairs Committee Passes Taiwan Travel Act". Committee on Foreign Affairs. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on October 13, 2017". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ a b "US Senate passes Taiwan travel bill slammed by China". South China Morning Post. Reuters. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ "S.1051 - Taiwan Travel Act". United States Congress. May 4, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ^ a b "MOFA thanks US House for passing two bills supporting Taiwan". Taiwan News. January 11, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
Focus Taiwan. September 1, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2018.- ^ a b "Chairman Royce Meets with President Tsai in Taiwan". Committee on Foreign Affairs. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ Huang, Kelven; Hou, Elaine (March 13, 2015). "President confers medal on U.S. congressman for supporting Taiwan". Retrieved March 14, 2015.
- ^ Wang, Amy B. "Against China's objections, Ted Cruz and Texas governor meet with Taiwanese president". Washington Post.
- ^ "Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Meets Taiwan President Tsai in New York".
- ^ "Tsai tells Denver group: Nation 'will not succumb' - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. July 21, 2019.
- ^ "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the U.S. will not abandon Taiwan as China protests". NPR. Associated Press. August 3, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ Tsai, Yun-Jen (August 4, 2022). "FAPA LAUDS PELOSI VISIT AS WATERSHED MOMENT IN TAIWAN's DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT – CALLS FOR ENACTMENT OF TAIWAN POLICY ACT". Formosan Association for Public Affairs. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ "Speaker Pelosi's Visit to Taipei Telegraphs Congressional Support for Taiwan's Sovereignty - American Legislative Exchange Council". alec.org. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
External links
- Taiwan Travel Act (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- Taiwan Travel Act (PDF/details) as enacted in the US Statutes at Large