Gerrit van der Wees argues that a confluence of trends means that 2018 will be a defining year for the United States and Taiwan.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/04/25
By: Gerrit van der Wees, Taiwan Insight
Photo Credit：Reuters／達志影像
The year 2018 is promising to be a watershed for U.S.-Taiwan relations.
The key event setting things in motion was the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act by Congress, which was signed by President Trump on March 16, 2018. Together with a number of related developments this represents a significant turning point for the island of Taiwan, and in particular its relations with the United States.
Congress brings Taiwan in from the cold
The fundamental shift occurring at the moment is being made possible by a number of key changes in the political landscape. First: for several years, the U.S. Congress has expressed increasing unhappiness about the way a free and democratic Taiwan was kept lingering in diplomatic isolation internationally. This in spite of the fact that the country had made its momentous transition to democracy in the early 1990s. [FULL STORY]
