| Taiwan Relations Act |
Article Index for Taiwan |
Website Links For Taiwan |
Information AboutTaiwan Relations Act |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT | |
| 1979 in law | |
| taiwan and the united states | |
| relations act | |
| united states foreign relations legislation | |
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The act authorizes quasi- Diplomatic Relations with the ROC government by establishing the American Institute In Taiwan and upholds all international obligations previously made between the ROC and U.S. prior to 1979 (with the exeception of the Mutual Defence Treaty Between The United States Of America And The Republic Of China , which was quietly allowed to expire in 1980). The act defines the term "Taiwan" includes, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores. Thus, the act does not apply to Kinmen or Matsu . 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." However, it does not necessarily require the United States to take any military action against the PRC in the event of an attack. The Taiwan Relations Act has been used by successive U.S. administrations to justify arms sales to the ROC, despite adopting a One-China Policy , which is not exactly the same as the PRC's. The PRC does not recognize the legitimacy of the Taiwan Relations Act as it is viewed by them as "an unwarranted intrusion by the United States into the internal affairs of China." In the late 1990s, the United States Congress passed a 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 Clinton as well. Nonetheless, the United States, despite having "acknowledged" the PRC's position regarding Taiwan, declared that "the United States would not formally recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan" as part of the Six Assurances offered to Taipei in 1982. See also: EXTERNAL LINKS |
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