I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2918 
To strengthen and clarify the commercial, cultural, and other relations be-
tween the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan, as 
codified in the Taiwan Relations Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. ROYCE, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and Ways and Means, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen and clarify the commercial, cultural, and other 
relations between the people of the United States and 
the people of Taiwan, as codified in the Taiwan Relations 
Act, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Policy Act of 
2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96– 
8; 22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), enacted in 1979, here-
after referred to as ‘‘the Act,’’ has continued for 32 
years to be the cornerstone of United States-Taiwan 
relations and has served as an anchor for peace and 
security in the Western Pacific region. 
(2) The Taiwan Relations Act, in furthering the 
national interests of the United States in the West-
ern Pacific region, has mandated that the United 
States will make available to Taiwan such defense 
articles and defense services in such quantity as may 
be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a suffi-
cient self-defense capability, thus allowing the people 
of Taiwan to preserve a peaceful, democratic, and 
prosperous way of life. 
(3) The future of Taiwan must be determined 
in a peaceful manner and with the assent of the peo-
ple of Taiwan. 
(4) The Taiwan Relations Act declares that— 
(A) peace and stability in the Western Pa-
cific area are in the political, security, and eco-
nomic interests of the United States, and are 
matters of international concern; 
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(B) the United States decision to establish 
diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic 
of China rests upon the expectation that the fu-
ture of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful 
means; 
(C) 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 con-
cern to the United States; 
(D) the United States will maintain the ca-
pacity to resist any resort to force or other 
forms of coercion that would jeopardize the se-
curity, or the social or economic system, of the 
people on Taiwan; and 
(E) the preservation and enhancement of 
the human rights of all the people on Taiwan 
are reaffirmed as objectives of the United 
States. 
(5) In recent years United States-Taiwan rela-
tions have suffered from inattention and lack of 
strategic vision, thereby requiring the Congress to 
both clarify United States policy toward Taiwan and 
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enhance its oversight role in the implementation of 
the Taiwan Relations Act. 
(6) In October 2010, Taiwan’s National Secu-
rity Bureau (NSB) Director estimated that China 
had 1,410 missiles across from Taiwan, mostly in 
the southeast, which constitute a threat to regional 
security, and other experts suggest that this number 
could increase to 1,800 in the near future. 
(7) The anti-secession law, passed by the Na-
tional People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of 
China, was found by House Concurrent Resolution 
98, passed in the House of Representatives on 
March 16, 2005, by a vote of 424–4, ‘‘to create a 
legal framework for possible use of force against 
Taiwan’’ and ‘‘to provide a legal justification for the 
use of force against Taiwan, altering the status quo 
in the region, and thus is of grave concern to the 
United States.’’. 
(8) The legislative requirement to make avail-
able defensive articles and services should include 
the provision of new F–16 C/D aircraft and up-
grades of the existing F–16 A/B fleet essential to 
Taiwan’s security. 
(9) The 2011 Department of Defense’s Annual 
Report to Congress on ‘‘Military and Security Devel-
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opments Involving the People’s Republic of China’’ 
noted that the People’s Liberation Army ‘‘seeks the 
capability to deter Taiwan independence and influ-
ence Taiwan to settle the dispute on Beijing’s 
terms’’ while ‘‘developing capabilities intended to 
deter, delay, or deny possible U.S. support for the 
island in the event of conflict. The balance of cross- 
Strait military forces and capabilities continues to 
shift in the mainland’s favor.’’. 
(10) The language contained in the Joint 
Communique´ of the United States of America and 
the People’s Republic of China, dated August 17, 
1982, which states in part that ‘‘arms sales to Tai-
wan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quan-
titative terms, the level of those supplied in recent 
years’’ shall not, to any degree, diminish the respon-
sibility of the United States, as legislatively man-
dated in the Taiwan Relations Act, to ‘‘make avail-
able to Taiwan such defense articles and defense 
services in such quantity as may be necessary to en-
able Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense ca-
pability.’’. 
(11) The United States has sought diplomati-
cally to preserve Taiwan’s international space, de-
spite outside pressure and coercion, and has sought 
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to secure Taiwan’s meaningful participation in such 
international organizations as the World Health Or-
ganization (WHO). 
(12) Given the critical importance of airport se-
curity in a post-September 11th international envi-
ronment, the United States recognizes it is crucial 
for Taiwan to be admitted to meaningful participa-
tion in the International Civil Aviation Organization 
(ICAO) so that Taiwan may contribute to the suc-
cess of a global strategy to address aviation security 
threats based on effective international cooperation. 
(13) Given that the Taiwan Relations Act 
states that it is the policy of the United States to 
‘‘preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly 
commercial, cultural, and other relations between 
the people of the United States and the people on 
Taiwan,’’ the Department of Homeland Security 
should therefore make it a priority to ascertain what 
requirements must be met for Taiwan’s inclusion, at 
an early date, in the visa waiver program (VWP) in 
order to further enhance those commercial, cultural 
and other relations addressed in the Act. 
(14) The conclusion of the Economic Coopera-
tion Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Tai-
wan and the People’s Republic of China in June 
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2010 or the adoption of any other cross-Strait eco-
nomic measures shall not diminish in any degree the 
requirement contained in the Act to ‘‘maintain the 
capacity of the United States to resist any resort to 
force or other forms of coercion that would jeop-
ardize the security, or the social or economic system, 
of the people on Taiwan.’’. 
(15) The theory recently put forward in certain 
academic circles that the United States should ac-
quiesce to China’s ascendancy in Asia and put aside 
the commitments made in the Taiwan Relations Act 
is based upon a false premise that ignores the exam-
ple of a democratic Taiwan, the historic ties of 
friendship of the peoples of the United States and 
Taiwan, and the determination of the United States 
to remain as a Pacific power. 
(16) Total United States-Taiwan trade was ap-
proximately $57,000,000,000 in 2010, and Taiwan 
currently ranks as the ninth largest trading partner 
of the United States. 
(17) It is in the economic interests of the 
United States and the national security interests of 
Taiwan for our two peoples to further strengthen 
and revitalize their trade and investment ties, in-
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cluding through an expanded Trans Pacific Partner-
ship (TPP) Agreement or similar mechanism. 
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to amend or 
supersede the Taiwan Relations Act. 
TITLE I—POLITICAL RELATIONS 
SEC. 101. RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN. 
The following shall be the policies of the United 
States: 
(1) Supporting Taiwan, Taiwan’s democracy, 
and the human rights of its people. 
(2) As noted in the Taiwan Relations Act, ‘‘the 
absence of diplomatic relations or recognition shall 
not affect the application of the laws of the United 
States with respect to Taiwan, and the laws of the 
United States shall apply with respect to Taiwan in 
the manner that the laws of the United States ap-
plied with respect to Taiwan prior to January 1, 
1979.’’. 
(3) The United States Government shall respect 
the right of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Rep-
resentative Office (TECRO) to display its flag on its 
premises and the American Institute in Taiwan 
(AIT) and the residence of its Director in Taipei 
shall, correspondingly, publicly display the United 
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States flag in the same manner as United States 
embassies, 
consulates, 
and 
official 
residences 
throughout the world. 
(4) The Taipei Economic and Cultural Rep-
resentative Office and all other instrumentalities es-
tablished by Taiwan, including the Twin Oaks Es-
tate, may conduct official business activities, includ-
ing activities which involve participation by Members 
of the United States Congress and other representa-
tives of the Federal, State, and local governments, 
without any impediment from the United States 
Government or any foreign power. 
SEC. 102. VISITS BY CABINET LEVEL OFFICIALS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Visits by United States cabinet officials and 
other high-ranking visitors are an indicator of the 
breadth and depth of ties between the United States 
and Taiwan. 
(2) In December 1992, U.S. Trade Representa-
tive Carla Hills visited Taiwan, marking the first 
cabinet-level visit since 1979. 
(3) Over the next 8 years the administrator of 
the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Sec-
retary of Energy, and 2 Secretaries of Transpor-
tation visited Taiwan. 
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(4) No United States cabinet secretary has vis-
ited Taiwan since July 2000. 
(5) In March 2008, candidate Barack Obama 
wrote in a message congratulating Ma Ying-jeou on 
his election victory that ‘‘[t]he U.S. should reopen 
blocked channels of communication with Taiwan of-
ficials’’, yet no Cabinet-level visits to Taiwan have 
yet taken place. 
(b) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It shall be the 
policy of the United States to encourage visits by cabinet- 
level officials between the United States and Taiwan to 
foster commercial, technological, and people-to-people ex-
changes. 
SEC. 103. REVISION OF GUIDELINES FOR CONTACTS WITH 
TAIWAN. 
Notwithstanding the 1994 Taiwan policy review and 
current mandatory guidance from the Department of 
State regarding contacts with Taiwan, it shall be the pol-
icy of the United States to— 
(1) permit senior leaders of Taiwan to enter the 
United States under conditions which demonstrate 
appropriate courtesy and respect for the dignity of 
such leaders; 
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(2) permit meetings between high level Tai-
wanese and United States officials in all United 
States executive departments; 
(3) allow official travel to Taiwan for Depart-
ment of State and Department of Defense personnel 
above the rank of office director or, for uniformed 
military personnel, above the level of 06 (Colonel, 
Navy Captain); and 
(4) support a decision by Taiwan to change the 
name of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Rep-
resentative Office to that of the Taiwan Representa-
tive Office. 
SEC. 104. REQUIREMENT FOR SENATE CONFIRMATION OF 
AN INDIVIDUAL APPOINTED TO SERVE AS 
THE DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN INSTI-
TUTE IN TAIWAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the President shall appoint, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, an individual to serve 
as the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan. 
(b) TRANSITION.—The individual serving as the Di-
rector of the American Institute in Taiwan as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act may continue to serve in such 
capacity until such time as an individual is appointed and 
confirmed in accordance with subsection (a). 
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