A bipartisan bill was put forward in the US Senate on Wednesday with the aim of renaming Taiwan’s representative office in Washington to reflect “the reality” that it represents the people of Taiwan, the sponsors said.
The proposed Taiwan representative office act seeks to change the name of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) to the Taiwan Representative Office (TRO).
The bill “underscores the United States’ commitment to Taiwan’s democracy and enhances clarity in the US-Taiwan relationship,” said a statement issued by Republican Senator John Curtis, who was the sponsor along with Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley.
Photo: AFP
In 2023 and last year, similar bills were introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate, but did not gain enough traction to advance in either chamber.
Curtis, who was then a member of the House, put forth one of the bills, while then-senator Marco Rubio sponsored the other, during the last two years of former US president Joe Biden’s term.
Taiwan’s representative offices in countries with which it does not have diplomatic ties are typically named the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office or the Taipei Representative Office, in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid any references that would imply Taiwan is a separate country from China.
Curtis was quoted in the statement as saying that the US should not tolerate pressure from China “to undermine the Taiwanese people.”
Instead, the US should “stand by its democratic allies and friends around the world facing pressure and coercion from authoritarian regimes,” he said.
“By renaming TECRO as the Taiwan Representative Office, our bill acknowledges the reality that this office represents the people of Taiwan, not just the economic interests of the city of Taipei,” he added.
Merkley said that the bipartisan bill demonstrates the US’ longstanding commitment to supporting Taiwan by properly recognizing its status.
“We must continue to send a strong message that the United States will use all resources at our disposal to foster healthy, robust relationships with our democratic partners, including Taiwan,” Merkley was quoted as saying in the release.
The two senators also said that changing TECRO’s name would not contravene the US’ “one China” policy or alter its position on Taiwan’s international status.
The proposed legislation directs the US secretary of state to engage in negotiations with Taiwan’s representative office in Washington to facilitate a name change, the two senators said.
If the renaming effort succeeds, all US government documents, laws, maps and records referring to TECRO would be updated to TRO, the bill says.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
RSS