Taiwan

Earlier Governments and the Island

Taiwan’s diplomatic history joins the history of an island with that of a government that relocated there. Japan ruled Taiwan after the Qing government ceded it in 1895. The Republic of China was founded on the mainland in 1912 and began administering Taiwan following Japan’s defeat in 1945. In 1949, after Communist victories in the Chinese civil war, the ROC central government moved to Taiwan. Its official name continued, while its territory, population, and diplomatic circumstances changed profoundly. [1]

Washington continued to recognize the ROC government after the relocation. Diplomats who had begun their careers representing the republic on the mainland now sought support for the government in Taiwan. Wellington Koo’s Washington ambassadorship crossed that transition. In May 1954 he asked John Foster Dulles for a security treaty; Dulles questioned how to protect Taiwan without committing the United States to military operations initiated by the Nationalists. [2]

Recognition and Continuing Relations

Taiwan’s international position changed in stages. In October 1971 the UN General Assembly replaced the ROC’s representatives with representatives of the PRC in China’s seat. The United States changed diplomatic recognition on January 1, 1979 and closed its embassy in Taipei the following month. [3] [4]

The Taiwan Relations Act gave continuing American ties a statutory framework. It provided for relations through the American Institute in Taiwan and Taiwan’s corresponding representative body, preserved the application of American law to many existing relationships, and protected property interests. It also provided for defensive arms and treated efforts to determine Taiwan’s future by nonpeaceful means as a matter of grave concern to the United States. [5]

Democratization and Negotiation

The government represented abroad also changed internally. Martial law, imposed in 1949, was lifted in 1987 after years of political and social pressure. Reforms opened political participation and led to the first direct presidential election in 1996. [6]

The unofficial framework continued to produce negotiated agreements. AIT and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office signed the first agreement under the U.S.–Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade on June 1, 2023. It entered into force on December 10, 2024 after each side completed its procedures. Commitments covered customs, regulation, anticorruption, and smaller businesses. [7]

Taiwan in Washington

Twin Oaks preserves a physical connection with the embassy era. The ROC used it as an ambassadorial residence from 1937 through 1978, and Taiwan’s representative office repurchased it in 1982. In October 2025 a visiting Taiwanese student troupe performed at TECRO’s National Day reception there. [8] [9]