United States foreign policy toward Taiwan

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US relations with Taiwan

The relations between the United States and Taiwan are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA . The United States recognized the government of the People 's Republic of China on January 1979 . It also acknowledged the Chinese position of one China and Taiwan being part of China . However the United States continues to maintain unofficial contacts with Taiwan . The Taiwan Relations Act signed by President Jimmy Carter established the legal framework for conducting unofficial relations with Taiwan . American commercial

, cultural and other links have been faciliated by the American Institute in Taiwan . This institute can accept visa applications for Taiwan and issue visas to US citizens seeking to travel in Taiwan . The Taipei economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States was established by the Taiwanese government . The United States has continued to provide defensive military equipment to Taiwan which declares such sales as vital for the peace and stability of the area

The United States has maintained a policy of defending Taiwan according to the Taiwan Relations Act . However the first US-China communiquy seems to contradict this policy . US arms sales to Taiwan actually declined in the 1980s . However by the early 1990s , US policy was marked by the sale of advanced fighter jets like the F-16 /A and F-16 /B along with sophisticated missiles , spare parts , technical documents and cannon shells (Hickey 4 . President Bill Clinton 's presidency was marked by several new changes like allowing senior US economic and technical officials to visit Taiwan . Taiwanese leaders also could make stopovers to the United States (Hickey 4 . However the ban on senior Taiwanese leaders remained in force . The Clinton administration however rejected any speculation that there was a change in the United States Taiwan policy since it still believed in the validity of one China policy

President Bush has modified many of the policies and practices of the Clinton Administration with respect to Taiwan . President Bush repeatedly had portrayed China as a strategic competitor to the United States . In 2001 , the arms policy towards Taiwan was changed with the sale of warships , Orion aircraft and diesel submarines . Many of these arms were considered a threat by the Chinese which they believed violated the second communiquy . The Bush administration responded by asserting that the arms sales to Taiwan was determined by the behavior of China (Dickson 5 . The delivery of diesel submarines posed a significant challenge because of their potential offensive use . This could have violated the TRA but the huge Chinese naval capability which can blockade the Taiwanese coastline justified the sale of these submarines The administration also announced publicly that the US would defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese attack . The United States had pursued a policy of strategic ambiguity in to ensure that the status quo would not be changed by any side using military action . Further relations with China were strained following the collision of an American spy plan with a...