US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan.
The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan.
Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.”
Photo: Reuters
It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later than 90 days after completing” the review to the US Senate and House of Representatives foreign relations committees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday in a statement welcomed the move, saying the legislation would strengthen implementation of the Taiwan Assurance Act and ensure updates to contact guidelines that keep bilateral ties on a steady trajectory.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) thanked the Trump administration and the US Congress for their bipartisan support, describing the signing as “a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations.”
Updating the guidelines through more frequent reviews would allow both sides to engage more fully, including enabling Taiwanese officials to visit US federal agencies for meetings, Lin said, although the newly passed measure did not specify such an outcome.
The bipartisan measure — introduced in February by three US representatives, Taiwanese-American Ted Lieu (劉雲平), Ann Wagner and the late Gerry Connolly — passed the House unanimously in May and cleared the Senate last month in a unanimous vote.
After Washington severed diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1979, the state department established internal “red lines” governing contact between US diplomatic, military and other officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.
In January 2021, during Trump’s first term, then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the termination of all restrictions on Taiwan-US contacts.
The administration of former US president Joe Biden later reinstated contact guidelines, but relaxed them, allowing routine meetings between Taiwanese representatives and US officials at federal agencies and at Taiwan’s representative office in Washington.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said the bill’s signing affirmed the value of exchanges between the two nations’ officials, supported closer bilateral ties, and stood as a symbol for the shared values of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights.
A robust Taiwan-US relationship is key to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, she said in a statement.
Taiwan will continue to maintain close contact with the US, deepen collaborations between the nations, and serve as a force for global prosperity and development, she said.
Taiwan will join forces with the US and other like-minded Indo-Pacific countries to ensure peace, stability and economic development in the region, Kuo said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it welcomes any US law that would safeguard Taiwan’s core interests and continual development.
Separately, Lin said Taiwan-US tariff talks are proceeding smoothly, and Taipei expects the formal agenda of trade negotiations to be declared soon.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Chin
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