Updated January 4, 2021
Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
Taiwan, which officially calls itself the Republic of China
The KMT maintained authoritarian one-party rule on
(ROC), is an island democracy of 23.6 million people
Taiwan until 1987, when popular pressure forced it to allow
located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China.
political liberalization. Taiwan held its first direct
U.S.-Taiwan relations have been unofficial since January 1,
parliamentary election in 1992 and its first direct
1979, when the Carter Administration established
presidential election in 1996. The May 2016 inauguration
diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China
of current President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic
(PRC) and broke formal diplomatic ties with self-ruled
Progressive Party (DPP) marked Taiwan’s third peaceful
Taiwan, over which the PRC claims sovereignty. The
transfer of political power from one party to another.
Taiwan Relations Act (TRA, P.L. 96-8; 22 U.S.C. §3301 et
In January 2020 elections held against the backdrop of
seq.), enacted on April 10, 1979, provides a legal basis for
protests in Hong Kong over erosions of the city’s promised
this unofficial bilateral relationship. It also includes
“high degree of autonomy” within the PRC, voters elected
commitments related to Taiwan’s security. For discussion
President Tsai to a second four-year term with 57.1% of the
of economic issues, see CRS In Focus IF10256, U.S.-
vote. The DPP lost 7 seats in the 113-seat legislature, but
Taiwan Trade Relations, by Karen M. Sutter.
retained its majority, with 61 seats. The KMT now controls
Taiwan’s Modern History
38 seats, a gain of 3. The results empowered Tsai to move
In 1949, after losing a civil war on mainland China to the
forward with an agenda that includes demanding “respect
from China” for what she calls Taiwan’s “
Communist Party of China, the ROC’s ruling party, the
separate
identity.”
Kuomintang (KMT), moved the ROC seat of government to
Tsai has since won plaudits from Taiwan’s public
Taiwan. The KMT continued to assert that the ROC was the
for her government’s response to the Coronavirus Disease
sole legitimate government of all China. In 1971, however,
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. She has also angered some at
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the
home with moves to ease restrictions on imports of U.S.
PRC’s representatives as “the only legitimate
pork and beef, and with her administration’s closure of a
representatives of China to the United Nations,” and
leading cable news station accused of pro-China bias and
expelled “the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek,” the
spreading disinformation.
ROC’s then-leader. Taiwan remains outside the United
U.S. Commitments Related to Taiwan
Nations. It today claims “effective jurisdiction” over
Taiwan, the archipelagos of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu,
The PRC seeks to enforce a “one China principle,” under
and some smaller islands. It also claims disputed islands in
which other countries affirm that Taiwan is part of China.
the East and South China Seas.
The United States adheres to its own “one-China policy,”
which the Trump Administration presented as based on
Figure 1. Taiwan
U.S.-PRC joint communiqués concluded in 1972, 1978, and
1982; the TRA; and “Six Assurances” that President Ronald
Reagan communicated to Taiwan in 1982, shortly before
the release of the third U.S.-PRC joint communiqué.
In the communiqués, the United States recognized the PRC
as the “sole legal government of China”; acknowledged, but
did not affirm, “the Chinese position that there is but one
China and Taiwan is part of China”; and pledged to
maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan. In the 1982
communiqué, the United States stated “that it intends
gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan.”
Key provisions of the TRA include the following:
Relations with Taiwan shall be carried out through the
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private
corporation. (AIT Taipei performs many of the same
functions as U.S. embassies elsewhere and is staffed by
U.S. government personnel assigned or detailed to AIT.)
It is U.S. policy “to maintain the capacity of the United
States to resist any resort to force or other forms of
Sources: Graphic by CRS. Map generated by Hannah Fischer using
coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social
data from NGA (2017); DoS (2015); Esri (2014); DeLorme (2014).
or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
The United States “will make available to Taiwan such
defense articles and defense services in such quantity as
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Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a
combined value of about $14 billion. The U.S. Navy
sufficient self-defense capability.”
conducted 11 Taiwan Strait transits in FY2020.
The 1982 Six Assurances, which the Trump Administration
The PRC, Taiwan, and “One China”
declassified in 2020, include assurances that in negotiations
The PRC maintains that mainland China and Taiwan are
with the PRC, the United States did not agree to consult
parts of “one China” whose sovereignty cannot be divided.
with the PRC on arms sales to Taiwan, did not agree to set a
The PRC’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law commits Beijing to
date for ending such arms sales, and did not agree “to take
“do its utmost with maximum sincerity to achieve a
any position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan.”
peaceful unification” with Taiwan. It states, however, that
In September 2020 Senate testimony, Assistant Secretary of
in the case of Taiwan’s “secession” from China, or if the
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell said
PRC concludes that possibilities for peaceful unification
it is U.S. policy to leave Taiwan’s sovereignty “undecided
have been exhausted, “the state shall employ non-peaceful
and to be worked out between the two parties,” meaning
means and other necessary measures to protect China’s
Taiwan and the PRC, while insisting that PRC-Taiwan
sovereignty and territorial integrity.” In 2019, PRC leader
differences “be resolved peacefully and through dialogue,
Xi Jinping recommitted the PRC to peaceful unification,
not with coercion or use of force.” The TRA does not
but reserved the option to use force. He called for exploring
require the United States to defend Taiwan, but states that it
“a two systems plan for Taiwan,” a reference to an
is U.S. policy to maintain the capacity to do so. In October
arrangement under which mainland China and Taiwan
2020, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien referred
would be parts of one country, but maintain different
to, “a lot of ambiguity there about what the United States
political and other systems, as in Hong Kong. After China
would do in response to an attack by China on Taiwan.”
imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June
Trump Administration Policy
2020, President Tsai declared the approach “not viable.”
Unlike her KMT predecessor, President Tsai has not
The Trump Administration sought to strengthen bilateral
endorsed the “1992 consensus,” under which Taiwan and
relations with Taiwan, even as the Administration stated
the PRC acknowledged “one China,” but retained their own
that it remained committed to the framework of unofficial
interpretations of what it meant. After her reelection, Tsai
U.S.-Taiwan relations. In August 2020, Secretary of Health
said, “We don’t have a need to declare ourselves an
and Human Services Alex Azar became the first U.S.
independent state. We are an independent country already
cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 2014. In September
and we call ourselves the Republic of China (Taiwan).” The
2020, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth,
PRC suspended contacts with Taiwan’s government in
Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach became the
2016 after Tsai declined to endorse the “1992 consensus.”
highest-ranking State Department official to visit Taiwan
since 1979. In January and May 2020, U.S. Secretary of
Since 2016, the PRC has established diplomatic relations
State Michael R. Pompeo issued statements congratulating
with eight countries that previously recognized Taiwan:
Tsai, respectively, on her reelection and the start of her
first the Gambia, then São Tomé and Príncipe, Panama, the
second term, making him the highest-level U.S. official
Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, the
ever to have issued such statements.
Solomon Islands, and Kiribati. The PRC has stepped up
military patrols and exercises around Taiwan, including
A prominent element of Trump Administration policy was
sending military aircraft across the median line of the
an effort to help Taiwan strengthen its relations with other
Taiwan Strait. The PRC has also blocked Taiwan’s
countries, particularly the 15 countries that maintain
attendance as an observer at annual World Health Assembly
diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than the PRC. In
meetings, which Taiwan attended from 2009 to 2016.
2019, Japan joined the United States and Taiwan as a
formal member of the Global Cooperation and Training
Select Legislation in the 116th Congress
Framework, which convenes workshops to share Taiwan’s
The Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020, enacted into law as
expertise with other countries. Also in 2019, the United
part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R.
States and Taiwan launched Consultations on Democratic
133), directs the Department of State to review its guidance
Governance in the Indo-Pacific Region, to help Indo-Pacific
on relations with Taiwan and states that it is the sense of
countries address governance challenges. The United States
Congress that the guidance “should be crafted with the
is also partnering with Taiwan to provide development
intent to deepen and expand” U.S.-Taiwan relations. The
assistance to Taiwan’s diplomatic partners in the Pacific
act also states, inter alia, that it is U.S. policy to advocate
and the Western Hemisphere.
for Taiwan’s meaningful participation or membership in
Although the United States terminated its Mutual Defense
various international bodies, and urges Taiwan to increase
Treaty with Taiwan in 1980, it engages with Taiwan’s
its defense spending. The William M. (Mac) Thornberry
military through dialogues, training, and arms sales. The
National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 (H.R.
United States has long called on Taiwan to spend more on
6395) requires an annual briefing to Congress on Taiwan
defense. In October 2020, a senior Department of Defense
arms sales and a report on the feasibility of establishing a
official urged Taiwan to prioritize “small dollar investments
medical security partnership with Taiwan’s Ministry of
in lethal capabilities tailored to counter the military threat
Defense. It also instructs the U.S. Executive Director at
Taiwan faces.” The Trump Administration notified
each international financial institution to seek to ensure that
Congress of 20 proposed major Foreign Military Sales
Taiwan nationals are not discriminated against in
cases for Taiwan, with a combined value of over $18
employment decisions.
billion. By comparison, over eight years in office, the
Obama Administration notified Congress of 16 cases with a
Susan V. Lawrence, Specialist in Asian Affairs
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Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
IF10275
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10275 · VERSION 52 · UPDATED