Taiwan Today
Date: May 3, 2016
The Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances were reaffirmed as the U.S. policy toward Taiwan
AH-64E Apache helicopters are one of the advanced U.S.-made defensive weapons systems operated by the ROC armed forces. (CNA)
April 28 with the passage of S.1635 Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act, Fiscal Year 2016, by the U.S. Senate.
Title I, Section 117 of the bill states that it is the “sense of the Congress that the U.S. policy toward Taiwan is based upon the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances and that provision of defensive weapons to Taiwan should continue as mandated in the Taiwan Relations Act and enhanced trade relations with Taiwan should be pursued to mutually benefit the citizens of both countries.”
The act follows resolutions by the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee April 20 and the Republican National Committee during its spring meeting April 20-23, reiterating the TRA and Six Assurances as the cornerstone of Taiwan-U.S. relations.
In response, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S.—the organization responsible for representing Taiwan’s interests in the U.S.—said it was grateful for the strong vote of confidence by U.S. Congress and Republican Party in the TRA and Six Assurances. “The series of supporting actions by the U.S. Congress and Republican National Committee demonstrates that Taiwan-U.S. relations are at their highest level since enactment of the TRA.”
Signed into law in 1979 following the switch of recognition from Taipei to Beijing by the U.S., the TRA authorizes the continuation of substantive relations between the people of the U.S. and the people on Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties between them, as well as to help maintain peace, security and stability in the western Pacific. [FULL STORY]
