Legislation Introduced in House Seeking Senate Confirmation of AIT Director

On December 23, 2019, founding member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus and longtime Taiwan supporter, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman for Asia and the Pacific, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) introduced legislation calling for Senate confirmation of the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

The bill concludes: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an individual to serve as the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan.”

The Taiwan Relations Act mandates that the “appropriate committees of Congress shall monitor … the operations and procedures of the Institute.”

The bill adds: “The Director of the American Institute in Taiwan shall have the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.”

FAPA President Mike Kuo states: “The current AIT Director, the U.S. de facto Ambassador to Taiwan, is appointed by the Secretary of State without checks and balances by Congress. Taiwanese Americans would like to see that the AIT Director is confirmed by the Senate for the following reason: “Congress has the right to oversee US-Taiwan relations through such a confirmation process.”

Dr. Kuo adds: “Moreover, the AIT Director acts, talks and walks like an ambassador. That is why it is all the more appropriate that he or she is confirmed by the Senate. And finally, this is not someone the State Department sends to the Caribbean. The Taiwan Strait is still one of the flashpoints in the world. It behooves the Senate to vet this prospective AIT Director to the maximum.”