PUBLIC LAW 115–135—MAR. 16, 2018 132 STAT. 341 

Public Law 115–135 

115th Congress 

An Act 

To encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, and for 

other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Travel Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) The Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), 

enacted in 1979, has continued for 37 years to be a cornerstone 

of relations between the United States and Taiwan and has 

served as an anchor for peace and security in the Western 

Pacific area. 

(2) The Taiwan Relations Act declares that peace and stability in the Western Pacific area are in the political, security, 

and economic interests of the United States and are matters 

of international concern. 

(3) The United States considers any effort to determine 

the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including 

by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security 

of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United 

States. 

(4) Taiwan has succeeded in a momentous transition to 

democracy beginning in the late 1980s and has been a beacon 

of democracy in Asia, and Taiwan’s democratic achievements 

inspire many countries and people in the region. 

(5) Visits to a country by United States Cabinet members 

and other high-ranking officials are an indicator of the breadth 

and depth of ties between the United States and such country. 

(6) Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered 

from insufficient high-level communication due to the selfimposed restrictions that the United States maintains on highlevel visits with Taiwan. 

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 

the United States Government should encourage visits between 

officials from the United States and Taiwan at all levels. 

(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It should be the policy of the United 

States to— 

Taiwan Travel 

Act. 

Mar. 16, 2018 

[H.R. 535] 


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132 STAT. 342 PUBLIC LAW 115–135—MAR. 16, 2018 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 535: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018): 

Jan. 9, considered and passed House. 

Feb. 28, considered and passed Senate. 

Æ 

(1) allow officials at all levels of the United States Government, including Cabinet-level national security officials, general 

officers, and other executive branch officials, to travel to Taiwan 

to meet their Taiwanese counterparts; 

(2) allow high-level officials of Taiwan to enter the United 

States, under conditions which demonstrate appropriate respect 

for the dignity of such officials, and to meet with officials 

of the United States, including officials from the Department 

of State and the Department of Defense and other Cabinet 

agencies; and 

(3) encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by 

Taiwan, to conduct business in the United States, including 

activities which involve participation by Members of Congress, 

officials of Federal, State, or local governments of the United 

States, or any high-level official of Taiwan. 

Approved March 16, 2018. 


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