22 U.S.C. § 3301
Section 3301 · Congressional findings and declaration of policy
This is the Taiwan Relations Act
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Millen Industries, Inc. v. Coordination Council for North American Affairs (1988)
Most recently applied in Clientron Corp. v. Devon IT, Inc. (August 2014)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The President having terminated governmental relations between the United States and the governing authorities on Taiwan recognized by the United States as the Republic of China prior to January 1, 1979, the Congress finds that the enactment of this chapter is necessary—
(1) to help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific; and
(2) to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan.
It is the policy of the United States—
(1) 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, as well as the people on the China mainland and all other peoples of the Western Pacific area;
(2) to declare that peace and stability in the area are in the political, security, and economic interests of the United States, and are matters of international concern;
(3) to make clear that the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means;
(4) to consider 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;
(5) to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and
(6) to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall contravene the interest of the United States in human rights, especially with respect to the human rights of all the approximately eighteen million inhabitants of Taiwan. The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section 18 of Pub. L. 96–8 provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] shall be effective as of January 1, 1979.”
Short Title
Section 1 of Pub. L. 96–8 provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Taiwan Relations Act’.”
Ex. Ord. No. 12143. Maintaining Unofficial Relations With the People on Taiwan
Ex. Ord. No. 12143, June 22, 1979, 44 F.R. 37191, provided:
In light of the recognition of the People's Republic of China by the United States of America as the sole legal government of China, and by the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, by the Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96–8, 93 Stat. 14, 22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq., hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, in order to facilitate the maintenance of commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan without official representation or diplomatic relations, it is hereby ordered as follows: