Two top Republican lawmakers have introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives calling for the US to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and end the outdated and counter-productive “one- China” policy.
The US maintained normal diplomatic relations with the government in Taiwan until 1979, when then-President Jimmy Carter abruptly cut off formal ties with Taipei and recognised the Communist regime in Beijing. China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. Introduced by congressmen Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the bill directs the Biden administration to support Taiwan’s membership in international organisations, and to initiate negotiations with Taipei on crafting a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement. For more than 40 years, American presidents of both political parties have repeated Beijing’s lie that Taiwan is part of Communist China despite the objective reality that it is not, said Tiffany.
It is time to do away with this outdated policy. Lawmakers responded by approving the bipartisan Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the cornerstone of continued US ties with the island.
