- Start
- Apr 10, 197990% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
The Taiwan Relations Act Becomes Law
- The Taiwan Relations Act became law on 10 April 1979, retroactive to 1 January, after Congress judged the Carter administration's arrangements for Taiwan insufficient[1][2]
- It states that it is the policy of the United States "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan"[2]
- It creates the American Institute in Taiwan, a non-governmental body through which the unofficial relationship is conducted, and preserves the whole body of treaties and agreements made with the Republic of China before 1979[1]
- In his signing statement Carter said he would use his discretion to read the Act "in a manner consistent with our interest in the well-being of the people on Taiwan and with the understandings we reached on the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China"[2]
- Beijing has objected to the Act repeatedly since; it was the first serious friction of the normalised relationship[2]
- It remains in force with no sunset, and is named alongside the three joint communiqués and the Six Assurances whenever Washington restates its Taiwan policy[3]
References 483% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%ait.org.tw/policy-history/taiwan-relations-actait.org.tw· Posted Sep 21, 2026· Starts Apr 10, 1979 ✓· 33% of score
The Office of the Historian states that the Taiwan Relations Act "became law on April 10, 1979". No end date: the Act carries no sunset and is still in force.
- [2]90%China Policy (Office of the Historian, US Department of State)history.state.gov· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
Gives the 10 April 1979 enactment date, quotes the Act's arms and security policy clause, and quotes Carter's signing statement.[1]
- [3]70%Taiwan Relations Act (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
Background on the Act's passage and its standing in later US statements of Taiwan policy.[1]
- [4]95%Taiwan Relations Act, Public Law 96-8, 93 Stat. 14 (US Government Publishing Office)govinfo.gov· Published Apr 10, 1979· 0% of score
The statute as enacted, in the Statutes at Large.[1]
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