Ken QuangThe U.S. security commitment provided by the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) creates an environment conducive to Taiwan’s democratic and economic progress and helps Taiwan maintain its democracy and freedom, said Ambassador Lily Hsu, director-general of the Taipei Economic Office (TECO) in New York on March 27.
Ambassador Hsu made the remarks at a symposium cohosted by TECO in New York, the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Global Taiwan Institute commemorating the 40th anniversary of the TRA. Titled The Taiwan Relations Act at 40: An Enduring Framework for U.S.-Taiwan Relations, the event featured distinguished panelists Jerome Cohen, June Teufel Dreyer, Shelley Rigger, Jacques deLisle, and Russell Hsiao.
In addition to commemorating the 40th anniversary of the TRA, the symposium sought to answer why the TRA has proved so durable, how it has shaped U.S.-Taiwan-China relations, and the challenges it faces today and in the future.
Jerome Cohen, professor of law at New York University, started by providing some background on the TRA, pointing out that North Korea’s invasion of South Korea convinced Washington to support Taiwan against a possible invasion from China. Professor deLisle then added that the TRA accorded Taiwan “as if” status, allowing the U.S. to treat it as if it were a state, and also served as a lodestar and a safe harbor for US leaders and policymakers, underpinning continuity in US policy.
Shelley Rigger, professor of East Asian politics at Davidson College, noted that anti-communist sentiment initially drove U.S. support of Taiwan, but Taiwan’s transition to a democracy and the changes of the overall international situation have sustained that support and thus helped to uphold the TRA for so many years. She stressed that Taiwan has value in its own right, and is not a tool for U.S. foreign policy.
While Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, called for a recalibration of the TRA, a refocusing of its destination, and a transition from reactive to proactive stance suggesting the U.S. be more affirmative, June Teufel Dreyer, professor of political science at the University of Miami, proposing a stronger approach by calling for U.S. military port of calls in Taiwan, noting that the U.S. should respond to China’s salami-slicing tactics with its own.
Although the panelists differed in opinion on the type of methods the U.S. and Taiwan should use to strengthen ties, and despite calls to exercise caution and avoid putting Taiwan in a difficult or dangerous position, the panelists agreed that the U.S. could improve bilateral relations through increased high-level official visits, and the changing of nomenclature from Taipei to Taiwan for Taiwan’s representation in the U.S.
Further reading: The 40th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations
