TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT 20 YEARS OF SUCCESS TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT AT TWENTY YEARS BY CHIEN-JEN CHEN THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA— PARTNER FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY THERE'S SOMETHING MISSING FROM THE WTO TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA ACKNOW- LEDGEMENTS WEATHER MAP CURRENCY CONGRESSIONAL RECORD taipei.org asiannet.com GIO BOFT

Taiwan Relations Act at Twenty Years (continued) THE FUTURE The TRA could hardly be called perfect in terms of its comprehensiveness or depth, for it failed to envisage and provide for the degree of democracy that Taiwan has achieved. Nor is it a substitute for formal diplomatic ties. And, the ambiguity of its language makes it susceptible to implementation at times in a way contrary to its legislative spirit. Nevertheless, the TRA has given Taiwan and the US a provident starting point from which to develop even better relations in the future. Now it is up to the collective wisdom of the government and people of the Republic of China and the government and people of the United States to build upon this solid foundation and make the Asia-Pacific, and indeed the world, a more prosperous and safer place in the 21st century. The result was a non-partisan, non-ideological, and down-to-earth approach to overcoming many of the potential legal and operational obstacles to bilateral relations between Taiwan and America created by the terms of normalization between Beijing and Washington. Among other things, it codified the structure and authorized funding for the American Institute in Taiwan, created to fill the need for an embassy-like organization that was formally not an embassy to carry on country-to-country liaison. It also stipulated the legal basis for maintaining all other treaties and agreements then in effect between the US and the Republic of China, with the sole exception of the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1954, and articulated the general principle of continuing US support of Taiwan's security. The purpose was to create the kind of environment in which bilateral ties between our two countries and democracy in Taiwan could ultimately prosper, and to ensure the safety and welfare of the then 18 million people of Taiwan. The results have been dramatic. Taiwan has remained secure, has prospered, and has made the transition from an authoritarian form of government to a fully democratic one. Bilateral relations of every sort between Taiwan and the United States have flourished, and the TRA has spelled out a clear framework for US-Taiwan ties that has in a way allowed Taipei and Beijing to at least begin a cross-strait dialogue and take the first steps toward confidence building. In addition, the security of Taiwan and the subsequent stability that the Republic of China has enjoyed over the past twenty years has fostered regional stability and multilateral prosperity throughout the Asia-Pacific. Of course, the prosperity achieved on Taiwan and the attainment of full democracy are without question primarily and fundamentally the result of the enormous effort and wise policy decisions made by the people and government of the Republic of China over the past two decades. Nevertheless, the TRA has played a significant role in setting the tone for the substantive relations that Taiwan shares with the US and other key partners in promoting global prosperity and world peace. FLEXIBLE The substantive ties between Taiwan and the US have indeed generally fared well over the vicissitudes of the past two decades, underscoring a third quality of the TRAits inherent flexibility. One can find twenty places in the TRA that provide for executive discretion. This allows sufficient leeway for implementation of the act as any particular situation may require. Consequently, the framework for relations spelled out by the TRA has continued to function well despite profound changes over the years. The Asia-Pacific region has prospered, the Chinese mainland has grown in economic and military might, and Taiwan has achieved full democracy, while relations between Washington and Beijing have gone through decided ups and downs, the TRA has remained the consistent basis for defining US-Taiwan relations throughout. The Taiwan Relations Act has provided America and Taiwan with a solid and lasting legal and security framework for close substantive relations since their formal diplomatic ties ended in 1979. Passed by Congress and signed into US domestic law by the President, this unprecedented foreign policymaking legislation has helped keep the peace in Asia and has allowed a highly productive trade relationship to grow and prosper. The numbers speak for themselves. So do the voters of democratic Taiwan, who have built the Republic of China into the US's 7th largest export market and a political role model for all of Asia. Page 2 of 3 Back to Top