House passes act calling for renaming Taiwan office in US

[catsudon]

Source: Taiwan News

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday (Feb. 4) urging a change of name of Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. as the two countries enhance their partnership.

The America COMPETES Act of 2022 was passed by a vote of 222-210, which marks a step towards the Biden administration’s objective to sharpen the U.S.’ competitive edge against China while bolstering its manufacturing sector, in particular the semiconductor industry.

A significant proportion of the bill is dedicated to promoting closer ties with Taiwan, including advocating the renaming of the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO)," the de facto Taiwan embassy. It asks relevant authorities to start negotiations to change the office’s name to the “Taiwan Representative Office in the United States,” as it’s the policy of Washington to “refer to Taiwan as Taiwan, not Taipei or Chinese Taipei,” it stated.

Read more: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4432141

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this is huge, when Lithuania did this while ago, there was a big blowback from China.

i wonder what China is going to do.

it figures that none of the gop in the house voted for this...

the senate passed a similar one, so these two will be worked on and go to President Biden to sign.

[dchill]

1. No one in the GOP is going to vote for anything...

... that's good for America or democracy anywhere.

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. No one in the GOP is going to vote for anything...

That is not about them. Period. They don't care about democracy. They do not care about Americans. They only care about their wallets and their dick-waving. That is it.

[dchill]

11. ...and their god guns.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Well, for some of them

That is the only penis they have to wave!

[Javaman]

13. and they certainly won't vote for it if there is no money involved for them. nt

[rso]

2. Taiwan

China will be pissed for certain. Many moons ago, while in the Foreign Service, I served in Taipei, Taiwan at our de-facto Embassy, which was called the American Institute in Taiwan. We did not fly the US flag because we were on paper an unofficial, “private” entity. All this was because the PRC insisted that if we wanted diplomatic relations with them, we had to de-recognize Taiwan. If this passes, China will be furious.

[HUAJIAO]

3. 'If this passes, China will be furious. '

GOOD !!!!!!!!!

[HUAJIAO]

4. BRAVO !!!

[paleotn]

5. Shot across the bow....

if China is seriously contemplating blunting sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine?

[pecosbob]

6. I visited both Keelung and Kaohsiung while in the navy

Ironically, they were pissed at us at the time and were burning U.S. flags and effigies of Jimmy Carter right on the pier where my ship was docked. This was right after Carter cancelled the Sino-American mutual defense treaty that had been in place since 1955...we officially recognized the People's Republic of China in 1979 and sort of backpedaled on assurances to defend Taiwan. A bit later Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act which has defined our official non-diplomatic status with the government of Taiwan since then.

Barry Goldwater and others sued to try to stop cancellation of the mutual defense treaty...the court declined to rule on the legality of this action on jurisdictional grounds, thereby allowing it to proceed.

Strange how corners have shifted since 1980.

[oldsoftie]

7. Part of me wishes Pres. Biden would just say "Taiwan is its own country. Get over it"

"They have their own government, they have their own military, their own currency, etc etc. They are independent of anyone else. And some countries in the world need to get used to it"

[inganmistral]

8. Its like renaming a post office

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

9. If China insists post offices aren't a thing, maybe.

Declining to officially acknowledge Taiwan as a sovereign state (aka the "One China" policy) has been a cornerstone of America's relationship with China since the the Cold War.

OP's not kidding, when Lithuania did this, China completely blackballed them. If the EU hadn't stood by them, the loss of trade might have collapsed their economy.