China & Taiwan

April 10, 2019 marks forty years since the adoption of the Taiwan Relations Act. When President Jimmy Carter announced in December 1978 that the United States would, as part of normalization of U.S.-PRC relations, sever diplomatic ties and terminate...

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is a model of legal ingenuity spurred by political necessity. Jimmy Carter inherited Richard Nixon’s challenge, which was to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Nixon took the first step...

April 10 marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). At the time of its passage in 1979, the law was an emergency consolation prize created by the U.S. Congress for the Republic of...

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA)—passed by the U.S. Congress in 1979—has provided an enduring framework for U.S.-Taiwan relations. This remarkable legislation mandated special American obligations and commitments to Taiwan that have helped to preserve peace and stability in the...

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) was enacted in 1979 to “to solve an unprecedented diplomatic problem: How to continue U.S. substantive relations with the people on Taiwan even though the U.S. government terminated diplomatic relations with the government in...

The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is rightly lauded as one of the most durable and effective laws governing foreign policy in U.S. history. For 40 years, the TRA has helped stabilize Washington’s relations with Taiwan and with the People’s...

As nearly all supporters of Taiwan agree, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is a fine document. Those of us who were in Washington when members of Congress, State Department officials, and administration personnel were trying to craft the legislation...

Although the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the policies it declares and underpins consistently offend China, the TRA has been a durable and fundamental pillar of Taiwan’s security for 40 years. It has helped foster stability in U.S. policy...

Donald Trump does not have a foreign policy; he has moods regarding international affairs. Underneath the volatility of his moods, however, are some convictions: namely that other countries are robbing the U.S. through trade; U.S. allies are at best...

The awkward and obviously unintentional collapse of the talks between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump on February 28 in Hanoi, Vietnam, is a setback only if one is seeking a sham deal that avoids the core issues. If we...