US sources said on Tuesday that the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has decided to move out of its current office on Taipei's Hsinyi Road in favor of turning a driving school in Taipei's Neihu District into the institute's new office.
The institute proposed the plan to rent the driving school from the Taipei City Government to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the city government in July but has not received a response.
AIT's Taipei office is located on Hsinyi Road Sect. 3 in downtown Taipei. The Taipei City Council has created controversy in the past by demanding the city government terminate its contract with AIT in order to regain the valuable property.
Last year, the US House of Representatives passed the "Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003," which states that a US flag should be flown in front of AIT's Taipei office as well as the AIT director's residence. The act has also appropriated US$17 million to subsidize the institute's annual budget for this fiscal year.
According to US Congressman Doug Bereuter, former convener of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, under the Committee on International Relations, the congressional move shows the US is determined to keep a permanent presence in Taiwan, and that it will serve as the beginning of a new era in Taiwan-US relations once the institute's relocation is completed.
US officials also said that they have been planning to relocate the institute for a long time, as the current office is not only crowded and old, but is also insecure.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a 10-member team from the House of Representatives visited Taiwan to inspect locations for the new office.
The US government initially planned to purchase its own land for building the new office and has inspected other locations including several in Tamsui.
However, it has decided to lease the land for the office -- because the cost for purchasing a 10-acre tract of land and building an office is estimated to be at least US$200 million, which would far exceed congressional funding.
US officials said that AIT has decided to move to a location in Neihu that is currently occupied by the public Neihu driving school (
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