Trump signs Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law

Washington/Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) United States President Donald Trump has signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the State Department to regularly review and update guidelines governing official U.S. interactions with Taiwan.

The new law, signed by Trump on Tuesday (U.S. time), is actually an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on U.S. interactions with Taiwan.

Previously, the State Department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years."

It must then submit an updated report based on its findings "not later than 90 days after completing" the review to the Senate and House foreign relations committees.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomed the move in a statement Wednesday (Taipei time), saying the legislation will strengthen implementation of the 2020 Taiwan Assurance Act and ensure updates to contact guidelines that keep bilateral ties on a steady trajectory.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) thanked the U.S. administration and Congress for their bipartisan support, and he described the act's signing as "a major step forward in U.S.-Taiwan relations."

He argued that updating the guidelines through more frequent reviews will allow both sides to engage more fully, including enabling Taiwanese officials to visit federal agencies for meetings, though the newly passed measure did not specify such an outcome.

The bipartisan measure, introduced in February by representatives Ann Wagner, the late Gerry Connolly, and Ted Lieu, passed the House unanimously in May and cleared the Senate in November by unanimous consent.

After Washington severed diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1979, the State Department established internal "red lines" governing contact between U.S. diplomatic, military and other officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.

In January 2021, during Trump's first term, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the termination of all existing restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan contacts.

The Biden administration later reinstated contact guidelines but relaxed them, allowing routine meetings between U.S. officials and Taiwanese representatives at federal agencies and at Taiwan's representative office in Washington.