Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/17
By: Rita Cheng and Lilian Wu

Washington, May 16 (CNA) The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a concurrent resolution in support of Taiwan, reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as “the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations”.

It was the first time that the Six Assurances appeared in written form in a resolution passed by the U.S. Congress, in a bid to convey Washington’s long-term firm support for Taiwan on the eve of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration on May 20.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee first passed the measure — House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 88 proposed by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) — on April 20, and it was passed unanimously in the House on Monday.

The Taiwan Relations Act, enacted in April 1979, was conceived to promote commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between Taiwan and the United States in the absence of diplomatic ties between them.     [FULL  STORY]