Taiwan Travel Act

When the U.S. established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, it also ceased to officially recognize Taiwan but continued to maintain unofficial relations with the island. In the same year, the U.S. enacted the Taiwan Relations Act. In 2016, the Taiwan Travel Act was introduced to the U.S. Congress by Representative Steve Chabot and Senator Marco Rubio; members of the House Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively. In the letter, Ambassador Cui stated the legislation together with another bill () represent “provocations against China's sovereignty, national unity and security interests,” and “have crossed the ‘red line’ on the stability of the China-U.S. relationship”. US lawmakers perceived this wording, together with the Chinese threat of “severe consequences” as inappropriate interference and "out of line". American responses A Democratic aide stated that issuing threats and setting “red lines” regarding U.S. domestic legislation was not a constructive way to build relations between the United States and China. The Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin reported that congressional aides said other foreign embassies generally seek to influence Congress through relationship-building and persuasion, rather than threats, and that China's approach differed from this norm. Representative Eliot Engel, then the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that China had used similar tactics with other countries and expressed concern that such methods were being directed at the U.S. Congress. Some commentators argued that these actions may have backfired by encouraging Congress to take a stronger stance in response to what they viewed as coercive behavior. ==Legislative history==

On October 12, 2017, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the bill without opposition. Committee Chairman Ed Royce said the legislation sought to encourage more frequent official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, including at senior levels, and criticized existing State Department restrictions on such travel. He also noted that the bill followed earlier committee legislation addressing Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Assembly. In January 2018, the bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously. It was subsequently approved unanimously by the Senate on February 28, 2018. President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law on March 16, 2018. ==Provisions==

Provisions of the Taiwan Travel Act state that the U.S. should: • 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." 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." People's Republic of China The Chinese state-controlled Xinhua News Agency indicated that China was "strongly dissatisfied" with the bill and said it violated the one China principle that asserts Taiwan is a province of China. == Aftermath ==

In September 2018, Royce led a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan. During the visit, President Tsai Ing-wen awarded him the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, citing his contributions to Taiwan. At the ceremony on September 1, Royce said he viewed the award as reflecting close relations between the United States and Taiwan. He described Taiwan as an important U.S. partner in the Asia-Pacific region and referred to shared democratic values and expanding economic ties. Royce also reiterated U.S. commitments to Taiwan's security, citing the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as central elements of U.S. policy. 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. On August 2, 2022, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, being the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit it in 25 years. Pelosi said her visit was a sign of the U.S. Congress's commitment to Taiwan. 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." 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. ==See also==