Taiwan Relations Act

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is a United States domestic statute enacted on April 10, 1979, and made retroactive to January 1, 1979. It was passed by Congress in response to the Carter administration's decision to terminate diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legal government of China.

The Act establishes the legal framework for substantive but unofficial relations between the United States and Taiwan. Key provisions include:

• Continuity of treaties and agreements: All treaties and international agreements in force between the U.S. and the ROC as of December 31, 1978, remain in effect (except the Mutual Defense Treaty, which was terminated).
• The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT): A nominally private nonprofit corporation through which the U.S. conducts relations with Taiwan in lieu of an embassy.
• Arms sales: The U.S. is to make available "defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability."
• Security commitment: Any effort to determine Taiwan's future "by other than peaceful means," including boycotts or embargoes, is declared "of grave concern to the United States." The U.S. is to maintain the capacity to resist coercion against Taiwan, though the Act stops short of an explicit defense guarantee — the basis of Washington's policy of strategic ambiguity.
• Human rights and treatment of Taiwanese: Taiwan is treated as a foreign "country" for most purposes of U.S. law.

The TRA operates alongside the Three Joint Communiqués (1972, 1979, 1982) with the PRC and the Six Assurances (1982) given to Taipei, together forming the cornerstone of U.S. "One China" policy. Notably, the TRA is U.S. domestic law and does not endorse Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of the PRC; Washington only acknowledges that position.