S. 821: Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act

This bill expands an existing requirement for the Department of State to review and report on its guidance to federal agencies on the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. (The U.S.-Taiwan relationship has been unofficial since 1979, when the United States established diplomatic relations with China and broke them with Taiwan.)

Current law requires the State Department to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan and report to Congress on this review. Under this bill, the State Department must review that guidance, reissue it, and report to Congress every five years while the guidance is in effect.

The reports to Congress must (1) describe the results of the guidance review and any changes to it resulting from implementation of a law that encourages engagement between Taiwanese and U.S. officials; (2) describe how the guidance takes into account certain considerations, such as the sense of Congress that Taiwan is governed by a representative government peacefully constituted through free and fair elections; and (3) identify self-imposed restrictions on relations with Taiwan that the State Department has lifted in its most recent guidance update.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.