Summary

On January 1, 1979, the Congress of the United States passed the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) in order to maintain all existing treaties between the Republic of China on Taiwan and the United States as well as the laws governing relations between the two countries. The enactment of the TRA marked the beginning of a unique relationship. Perhaps for the first time in the history of modern foreign affairs a state had broken relations with another, only to create a new legal arrangement that would maintain virtually all prior laws and commitments that had existed between the two governments. The essays in this volume focus on how the TRA has influenced the two triangular relationships in which the United States and the two Chinese states are lined: (1) the great power triangle of the United States, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the Soviet Union and (2) the evolution of political diplomacy between the United States, the PRC, and the Republic of China on Taiwan. Despite efforts by the PRC to disrupt the strong ties between the United States and the ROC, the authors of this volume illustrate the extraordinary success of the Taiwan Relations Act in contributing to regional security and a high level of economic and political stability in one of the world’s most tactically unpredictable and volatile areas.