The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, aimed at broadening exchanges between Taiwanese and US officials.
The bill — which would amend the 2019 Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act and the 2020 Taiwan Assurance Act — is awaiting US President Donald Trump’s signature to become law.
The US House of Representatives in 2023 passed a previous iteration of the proposal, which stalled in the Senate.
Photo: Reuters
US Republican Senator John Cornyn, who also cosponsored the bill, said it would require the US Department of State to regularly revise its policy guidelines on Taiwan to deal with the threat of Chinese military action.
The House version of the bill — which the chamber passed in May — was backed by US representatives Ann Wagner, a Republican, and Democrats Ted Lieu and Gerry Connolly.
Connolly passed away in May.
The legislation would require the State Department to update and review its guidance on Taiwan every two years and deliver a report to Congress within 90 days, with the goal of removing self-imposed limits on bilateral exchanges.
Currently, US law requires the department to conduct a one-time review of the guidance on Taiwan.
The report should elaborate on whether current policy guidelines achieve the effect of deepening and expanding Taiwan-US relations, and whether they reflect that relationship’s value and importance, the bill said.
The guidance must take into account that Taiwan is a democratic partner of the US that respects universal human rights and democracy, align with a long, comprehensive and values-based history of bilateral interactions, and contribute to the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, it said.
In 2021, then-outgoing US secretary of state Mike Pompeo authorized the lifting of all self-imposed restrictions on US interactions with Taiwanese officials, an order former US president Joe Biden partially rescinded upon assuming office.
Biden concurrently relaxed limits on Taiwanese official visits in the US, including allowing their stay in US federal facilities and meeting with former directors of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US mission to the nation.
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