Last Updated on June 1, 2019 by LawEuro
[115th Congress Public Law 135]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 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. <<NOTE: Mar. 16, 2018 – [H.R. 535]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Taiwan Travel
Act.>>
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 self-
imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on high-
level 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–
[[Page 132 STAT. 342]]
(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.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY–H.R. 535:
—————————————————————————
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
Jan. 9, considered and passed House.
Feb. 28, considered and passed Senate.
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