2021 Issues of Concern for Taiwanese American
Challenge the PRC’s One China Principle
An increasing number of countries and international organizations are abiding by the PRC’s One China Principle instead of the U.S. One China Policy. This partly results from the U.S. One China Policy’s passive language vis-à-vis Taiwan’s sovereignty status.
Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)
We believe that the current title of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington DC does not reflect the sovereignty of Taiwan. The U.S. could learn from the experience of Japan, which renamed its “embassy” in Taiwan from “Interchange Association” into “Japan-Taiwan Interchange Association in 2017.”
Taiwan Envoy Act
The 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 the AIT Director confirmed by the Senate, which has the right to oversee US-Taiwan relations through such a confirmation process.
US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement
Taiwan was the 11th largest U.S. trading partner with over $10 billion U.S. services exports in 2018, yielding a surplus for the U.S. of over $1.6 million. Taiwan is also the 8th largest agricultural export destination for the United States in 2018. U.S. trade deficit to Taiwan also decreased 7.3% from 2017. As a result, Taiwan is an important source of job creation for the United States.