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The 30th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act: Continuity and Change in Cross-Straits Relations

On September 9, 2009, the Center for National Policy commemorated the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) by hosting Congresswoman Shelley Berkley and Brookings Scholar Richard Bush III for a lunch time discussion.

CNP's vice-president Scott Bates began the discussion by noting that the TRA "has allowed the United States to open relations with the People's Republic of China, to have a strong relationship with the Republic of China, and maintain a certain strategic ambiguity that has served the interests of peace in the region quite well for the last generation."

Congresswoman Berkeley, who also serves as co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, began her presentation by explaining why the United States government and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle support Taiwan. For her, the fact that Taiwan is a fellow democracy in a "tough neighborhood" and is located in a strategically important location for the United States are the primary reasons the United States does and should, Berkeley believes, continue to support Taiwan. She continued by suggesting that this support should be independent of which political party is in control of the island's government. The political party matters less than unequivocal support for a democratically elected government. 

Congresswoman Berkeley continued by contrasting Congressional support of Taiwan with the suspicion many members of Congress feel towards China. This suspicion is centered on a number of issues including: trade and domestic concerns such as "currency manipulation, treatment of intellectual property, dumping and other trade issues, and human rights concerns." Congress is also deeply concerned with China's role in international issues including their relationship with Sudan and Iran.

In light of these facts, Congresswoman Berkeley predicted that Taiwan will continue to enjoy strong, bipartisan congressional support. Trade with Taiwan will continue to grow and the United States will continue to provide Taiwan with defensive armaments, she believes. She also predicted that the sale of unreleased F-16s will go through shortly.

Richard Bush began by explaining the Taiwan Relations Act and several of its clauses that are commonly misunderstood, arguing that the TRA is largely a declaration of policy rather than a document that requires action. He went on to argue that for the TRA to work, political commitment is required and both Taiwan and the United States must share the same strategic perspective.  The U.S.-Taiwan relationship was under significant strain in 2003-2008 under former President Chen. During this five-year period, the strategic perspective of the United States and Taiwan began to diverge when Chen initiated a more provocative foreign policy vis-à-vis China. Bush argued that the strategic perspective is now just beginning to re-convergence under the leadership of President Ma.

Bush concluded by stating that "making their political commitment to Taiwan's security 30 years ago, the authors of the TRA could not have imagined today's circumstances, but the genius of their achievement, I think, was to create a general legislative framework in which the essence of their political commitment could be applied to new contexts. And it's a task of today's leaders, in both Taiwan and America, to create circumstances that ensure that this commitment is reaffirmed on a regular and positive basis."