US lawmakers on Friday marked the anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) with a post on X that emphasized the law’s key role in maintaining the security interests of Taiwan and the US.
“Today is the 47th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. It has for almost five decades ensured Taiwan’s security and bolstered US Interests in the Indo-Pacific,” the Republican Party’s account representing its US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee members said.
“The TRA still stands today as a bulwark against Chinese Communist aggression,” it said.
Photo: Screen grab from US House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority’s X account
The post, which included a composite image of President William Lai (賴清德) alongside US President Donald Trump against the backdrop of the national flags of the Republic of China and the US, was published while Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met in Beijing.
The Cheng-Xi meeting was held amid a deadlock in the legislature over the government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.4 billion) in special defense spending over eight years to counter China’s aggression.
Signed on April 10, 1979, the TRA regulates bilateral ties between Taiwan and the US following Washington’s recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“It is the policy of the United States ... to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character” and “to maintain the capacity of the US to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan,” the act says.
Lai wrote on Facebook on Friday that the TRA and the “six assurances” are iron-clad proof that the two sides are committed to deepening the bilateral friendship, as well as a cornerstone of the Indo-Pacific region’s stability and security.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in a statement said that the TRA and the “six assurances” form part of the policy framework that “enabled the stunning evolution of Taiwan’s democracy, economy and social system into the envy of the world.”
The “six assurances” stipulate that the US would not set a date to end arms sales to Taiwan, would not change the Taiwan Relations Act, would not consult with China on arms sales to Taiwan, nor act as a mediator between Taiwan and China.
The assurances also say that the US would not formally recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, nor pressure Taiwan to negotiate with China.
In a reply to Lai’s post, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said the Taiwan-US partnership — which is grounded in shared democratic values, economic ties and mutual security interests — has grown stronger since the passage of the bipartisan legislation decades ago.
“As cochairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, I look forward to continuing to strengthen that partnership and stand firm against coercion,” he said.
US Representative Don Bayer said that the law “protected Taiwan’s democratic aspirations, strengthened a mutually beneficial economic partnership and supported Indo-Pacific stability.”
The TRA is “an example what thoughtful US foreign policy can achieve,” Bayer wrote.
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