MILITARY EXCHANGES: A Chinese envoy’s threat of ‘unification’ by force had no real impact on US policy and might even have generated a US backlash, lawmakers said
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 14, 2017
By: Jonathan Chin and Lu Yi-hsuan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US after US President Donald Trump on
US President Donald Trump signs the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg
Tuesday signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018, which contains provisions favorable to Taiwan’s defense, while China voiced opposition to Taiwan-US military exchanges.
The signing of the NDAA was highly anticipated in the nation, as Section 1259 — Strengthening the Defense Partnership of the US and Taiwan — lists the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” as continuing US legal commitments.
The “six assurances,” issued in 1982 by then-US president Ronald Reagan, stipulate that the US will not set an end date on arms sales to Taiwan, will not alter the TRA, will not hold consultations with China over arms sales to Taiwan, will not mediate between Taiwan and China, will not pressure Taiwan to negotiate with China and will not formally recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. [FULL STORY]