The U.S. House of Representatives on March 22 approved legislation that would require the State Department to regularly review and provide updated reports on its guidelines for U.S. engagement with Taiwan.
The Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, introduced on Feb. 24 by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), was approved in a nearly unanimous vote of 404–7.
The seven members who voted against the bill were Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.).
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, but the Chinese regime views the island as part of its territory that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Wagner’s bill comes at a time of increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing following the downing of a Chinese Communist Party surveillance balloon over the United States. Those tensions have been further exacerbated by the growing military pressure from China on Taiwan.
“That means boldly standing by our friends and partners, particularly Taiwan. We must increase our economic ties, defense relationship, and political support of Taiwan’s democratic system, and this bill will support these goals,” stated Wagner, who is also vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Bill Details
Under the bill (pdf), the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 would be amended to require the secretary of state to conduct periodic reviews and provide updated reports relating to the Department of State’s Taiwan Guidelines at least every two years.The Taiwan Assurance Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) in 2019, requires the State Department to reassess self-imposed restrictions on U.S. relations with Taiwan. It went into effect in 2020, under the Trump administration.
The State Department lifted all those restrictions in January 2021 in an effort to bolster U.S.–Taiwan relations, noting at the time that despite the self-ruled nation being a “vibrant democracy and reliable partner of the United States,” the State Department had for several decades created “complex internal restrictions to regulate ... diplomats, servicemembers, and other officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts.”
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time that this was done in an “attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing,” and that the “U.S.–Taiwan relationship need not, and should not, be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy.”
Under Wagner’s bill, the regular reviews and updates must explain how the State Department’s guidance deepens and expands U.S.–Taiwan relations, and “reflects the value, merits, and importance” of the two nations’ relationship.
It must also consider that Taiwan is a “democratic partner and a free and open society that respects universal human rights and democratic values,” and ensure that the conduct of relations with Taiwan “reflects the longstanding, comprehensive, and values-based relationship the United States shares with Taiwan, and contribute to the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
Additionally, the bill asks that the secretary of state identify opportunities to lift “any remaining self-imposed limitations on U.S.–Taiwan engagement and articulate a plan to do so.”
In announcing the bill, Wagner said that for decades, a majority of senior members of the federal government, including high-ranking military officers, were banned from visiting Taiwan because of pressure from Beijing.
Taiwan President to Visit US
Taiwan’s top leadership also couldn’t travel to the United States, and meetings between the two nations had to “meet a long list of complicated and arbitrary requirements” such as holding meetings in hotels as opposed to official government buildings.In some cases, Taiwanese officials weren’t able to wear official uniforms or insignia, she said.
“Many of these restrictions have since been put back in place by the Biden Administration. President Biden’s skittishness is a slap in the face to our partners in Taiwan, who should be allowed to proudly display their country’s flags and symbols in their engagement with the United States,” Wagner said.
Wagner’s bill still needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to Biden’s desk.
Last year, tensions between Beijing and Washington reached a boiling point following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) visit to the self-ruled island in August 2022.
“We again warn the Taiwan authorities that there is no way out for Taiwan independence, and any illusions about attempts to collude with external forces to seek independence and provocation is doomed to fail,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
