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1 1 (December 12, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govebec0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Taiwan: Select Political and Security Issues Taiwan, which officially calls itself the Republic of China (ROC), is an island democracy of 23.6 million people located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. Since January 1, 1979, U.S.-Taiwan relations have been unofficial, a consequence of the Carter Administration's decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and break formal diplomatic ties with self-ruled Taiwan, over which the PRC claims sovereignty. The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA, P.L. 96-8; 22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), enacted on April 10, 1979, provides a legal basis for this unofficial bilateral relationship. It also includes commitments related to Taiwan's security. Taiwan's Modern History China's Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. The Republic of China, which was founded in 1912 on mainland China and led by the Kuomintang Party (KMT), assumed control of Taiwan in 1945, after Japan's defeat in World War II. In 1949, after losing a civil war to the Communist Party of China, the KMT moved the seat of the ROC to Taipei, and the Communists established the PRC on mainland China. Figure I. Taiwan Sources: Graphic by CKS. Map generated by Hannah Fischer using data from NGA (2017); DoS (2015); Esri (2014); DeLorme (2014). Long after the retreat to Taiwan, the KMT continued to assert that the ROC government was the sole legitimate government of all China. In 1971, however, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the PRC's representatives as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and expelled the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek, the ROC's president at the time. Taiwan has remained outside the United Nations ever since. Taiwan today claims effective Updated December 12, 2019 jurisdiction only over Taiwan, the archipelagos of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, and some smaller islands. It also claims disputed islands in the East and South China Seas. On Taiwan, the KMT maintained authoritarian one-party rule until 1987, when it began allowing political liberalization. Taiwan held its first direct parliamentary election in 1992 and its first direct presidential election in 1996. The May 2016 inauguration of current President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) marked Taiwan's third peaceful transfer of political power from one party to another. In 2016, the DPP also ended the KMT's previously unbroken control of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's 113-member legislature. The DPP suffered deep losses in November 2018 local elections. It now controls 6 of Taiwan's 22 municipalities. Taiwan is to hold presidential and legislative elections on January 11, 2020. President Tsai is running for reelection. Her chief rival, KMT candidate and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, has blamed Tsai's policies for increased tensions with Beijing and pledged to re-start cross-Strait dialogue. Trump Administration Policy As President-elect, Donald J. Trump spoke by telephone with President Tsai and publicly questioned the long- standing U.S. one-China policy, under which the United States maintains only unofficial ties with Taiwan, while upholding the TRA. After taking office, however, the President recommitted to the U.S. one-China policy in a February 2017 telephone call with PRC President Xi Jinping. The Trump Administration's December 2017 National Security Strategy states that the United States will maintain our strong ties with Taiwan in accordance with our 'One China' policy, including our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide for Taiwan's legitimate defense needs and deter coercion. The U.S. one- China policy is distinct from the PRC's one-China principle, which asserts that Taiwan is part of China. Since 2017, the Administration has taken some actions that have diverged from past practice. In May 2019, for example, it hosted a meeting between the U.S. and Taiwan National Security Advisors, reportedly the first such meeting in the era of unofficial relations. In September 2019 congressional testimony, however, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell signaled a commitment to the traditional framework of relations. He referred to Taiwan as a non-state entity and referenced 1970s-era U.S.-China communiques on U.S. relations with the PRC and Taiwan, stating, We, certainly, want to remain inside our own commitments to the PRC. Administration policy goals include increasing international awareness of Taiwan's contributions to global society, encouraging other governments to show support for Taiwan, and helping Taiwan shore up relations with its 15 remaining diplomatic partners. The United States, https://crsreport.

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