Updated July 25, 2022
Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
Taiwan, which officially calls itself the Republic of China
representatives of Chiang Kai-shek,” the ROC’s then-
(ROC), is a democracy of 23 million people located across
leader. Taiwan remains outside the U.N. today.
the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. Its government
claims “effective jurisdiction” over
The KMT maintained authoritarian one-party rule on
the island of Taiwan,
Taiwan until 1987, when it yielded to public pressure for
the archipelagos of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, and other
political liberalization. The May 2016 inauguration of
outlying islands. Taiwan also claims disputed geographic
current President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic
features in the East and South China Seas. The People’s
Republic of China’s (PRC’s or China’s) stated
Progressive Party (DPP) marked Taiwan’s third peaceful
transfer of political power from one party to another. Tsai
determination to unify with Taiwan at an unspecified future
won a second four-year term in 2020 and her party retained
date, combined with U.S. security commitments related to
its majority in Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan.
Taiwan, make Taiwan the hotspot that could most plausibly
Taiwan is scheduled to hold elections for nine categories of
draw the United States and China into armed conflict.
local elected office on November 26, 2022.
U.S.-Taiwan relations have been unofficial since January 1,
The most recent flashpoint in U.S.-Taiwan-PRC relations
1979, when the United States established diplomatic
has been news of a possible visit to Taiwan by the Speaker
relations with the PRC and broke them with self-ruled
of the House. In recent years, some Members of Congress
Taiwan, over which the PRC claims sovereignty. The 1979
have argued that the U.S. government should encourage
Taiwan Relations Act (TRA, P.L. 96-8; 22 U.S.C. §§3301
visits between U.S. and Taiwan officials at all levels, in part
et seq.) provides a legal basis for unofficial relations. See
to improve high-level communication. That position was
also CRS In Focus IF10256, U.S.-Taiwan Trade Relations.
enacted into law in 2018’s Taiwan Travel Act (P.L. 115-
Figure 1. Taiwan
135). If the Speaker were to travel to Taiwan this summer,
she would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit
Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. She
would be visiting at a time when the Russian invasion of
Ukraine has heightened concerns about the potential for
PRC military action to pressure Taiwan to accept
integration into the PRC, and at a sensitive political
moment for China. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is believed
to be seeking appointment to a norm-breaking third term as
China’s top leader at a CPC Congress in the fall, a quest
already complicated by economic, social, and public health
challenges in China. Some analysts believe the political
moment may make a muscular PRC response to any visit by
the Speaker more likely. Others argue that it might make
the PRC leadership more risk averse.
On July 25, a PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned
that if the trip goes forward, “the Chinese side will take
firm and strong measures to safeguard our sovereignty and
territorial integrity.” He preceded that statement with a
phrase that the ministry translated as, “We are fully
prepared for any eventuality.” A standard PRC dictionary
Sources: Graphic by CRS. Map generated by Hannah Fischer using
translates the phrase as, “We stand in combat readiness.”
data from NGA (2017); DoS (2015); Esri (2014); DeLorme (2014).
Asked on July 20, 2022 about a possible trip by the
Modern History and Current Events
Speaker, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. said, “the military
thinks it’s not a good idea right now.” The next day, the
In 1949, at the end of a civil war on mainland China with
Speaker herself declined to discuss her travel plans. When
the Communist Party of China (CPC), the ROC’s then-
asked about how to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, she
ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT), moved the ROC
said “it’s important for us to show support for Taiwan.”
government to Taiwan. Until 1991, the KMT continued to
assert that the ROC government on Taiwan was the sole
U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan
legitimate government of all China. In 1971, however, U.N.
Since 1979, the United States has maintained a “one-China
General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the PRC’s
policy,” now guided by the Taiwan Relations Act; U.S.-
representatives as “the only legitimate representatives of
PRC joint communiqués concluded in 1972, 1978, and
China to the United Nations,” and expelled “the
1982; and “Six Assurances” that President Ronald Reagan
communicated to Taiwan in 1982. Under the policy, which
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Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
supporters credit with keeping the peace for over four
employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures
decades, the United States maintains official relations with
to protect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
the PRC and unofficial relations with Taiwan, sells arms to
PRC leader Xi has publicly committed China to striving for
Taiwan, supports peaceful resolution of cross-Strait
peaceful unification. In October 2021, he stated, “National
differences, and opposes any unilateral changes to the status
reunification by peaceful means best serves the interests of
quo (without explicitly defining what the status quo is). The
the Chinese nation as a whole.” Yet he has also repeatedly
U.S. one-China policy is distinct from the PRC’s “one
China principle,” which defines Taiwan as part of China,
warned, “No one should underestimate the resolve, the will,
and the ability of the Chinese people to defend our national
and the PRC as China’s sole legal government.
sovereignty and territorial integrity.” China’s armed forces
In the U.S.-China joint communiqués, the United States
regularly conduct exercises near Taiwan that showcase the
recognized the PRC government as the “sole legal
kinds of capabilities they likely would employ in a cross-
government of China”; and acknowledged, but did not
Strait conflict. PRC military aircraft conduct sorties into
endorse, “the Chinese position that there is but one China
Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (an area beyond
and Taiwan is part of China.” The Six Assurances include
the island’s territorial airspace) on an almost daily basis.
assurances that in negotiating the 1982 communiqué, the
Beijing cut off communication with Tsai’s government in
United States did not agree to consult with the PRC on arms
sales to Taiwan or to “take any position regarding
2016, citing her unwillingness to endorse a formula known
as “the 1992 consensus
sovereignty over Taiwan.”
.” The consensus stipulates that the
KMT and the CPC agreed that Taiwan and mainland China
Key provisions of the TRA include the following:
are parts of “one China,” without agreeing on what “China”
means. Xi’s government has also sought to isolate Taiwan
U.S. relations with Taiwan shall be carried out through
internationally. Since 2016, 9 former Taiwan diplomatic
the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private
partners have switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC,
corporation. (AIT Taipei performs many of the same
leaving Taiwan with 14 such partners. The PRC has worked
functions as U.S. embassies elsewhere.)
to exclude Taiwan from international organizations,
The United States “will make available to Taiwan such
including by blocking Taiwan’s attendance as an observer
defense articles and defense services in such quantity as
at annual World Health Assembly meetings.
may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a
Taiwan’s Security
sufficient self-defense capability.”
As China’s air, naval, missile, and amphibious forces have
“The President is directed to inform the Congress
become more capable, the balance of power across the
promptly of any threat to the security or the social or
Taiwan Strait has shifted in the PRC’s favor. Taiwan’s
economic system of the people on Taiwan and any
military is professional and technologically advanced, but it
danger to the interests of the United States arising
enjoys less than one-tenth the budget of the PRC’s military
therefrom. The President and the Congress shall
and faces equipment, readiness, and personnel challenges.
determine, ... appropriate action by the United States in
The Tsai Administration is pursuing new policies intended
response to any such danger.”
to harden the island’s defenses. They include an
The TRA does not require the United States to defend
asymmetric military strategy that aims to deter, and if
Taiwan, but it states that it is U.S. policy to maintain the
necessary, defeat PRC attacks.
capacity to do so, creating strategic ambiguity about U.S.
The United States terminated its Mutual Defense Treaty
actions in the event of a PRC attack on Taiwan. Some
with Taiwan in 1980, but engages in security cooperation
observers, including some Members of Congress, have
with Taiwan, most concretely through arms sales. The vast
advocated abandoning the policy of strategic ambiguity in
majority of Taiwan’s arms imports are from the United
favor of a clear U.S. commitment to defend Taiwan.
States, and the island is among the top recipients of U.S.
Supporters of ambiguity see it as having served to deter
Foreign Military Sales (FMS). As of March 2022, 30 active
provocations from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
duty U.S. military personnel were deployed to Taiwan. The
President Biden has sent mixed messages about U.S. policy.
two militaries also conduct regular dialogues, training, and
Three times in the last year, he has appeared to abandon
other cooperative security activities. The U.S. Navy
strategic ambiguity, most recently in May 2022, when he
conducts near-monthly transits of the Taiwan Strait.
answered “Yes” to a journalist who asked, “Are you willing
Taiwan and the 117th Congress
to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, if it comes to
that?”
As PRC coercion against Taiwan has intensified, many
Biden later said strategic ambiguity remained U.S.
policy, adding, “The policy has not changed at all.”
Members have introduced legislation that aims to support
In
Taiwan’s international engagement
November 2021, Biden said of Taiwan, “It’s independent.”
, boost U.S.-Taiwan
economic and cultural engagement, and enhance Taiwan’s
Later the same day, he said his administration is “not
encouraging independence” for Taiwan.
security (e.g., The Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 (S. 4428)).
Some Members have introduced legislation (e.g., S.
PRC Policy Toward Taiwan
3131/H.R. 6443 and S. 3192) that would expand U.S.
The PRC’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law commits Beijing to
influence over Taiwan’s defense strategy by incentivizing
working toward “peaceful unification” with Taiwan. It
Taiwan to procure certain U.S.-approved arms.
states, however, that in the case of Taiwan’s “secession”
from China, or if the PRC concludes that possibilities for
Susan V. Lawrence, Specialist in Asian Affairs
peaceful unification have been exhausted, “the state shall
Caitlin Campbell, Analyst in Asian Affairs
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Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
IF10275
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10275 · VERSION 59 · UPDATED