WASHINGTON, D.C. – US President Donald Trump has signed a new law that deepens informal ties with Taiwan and locks in regular reviews of how Washington deals with the island. The Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act amends the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 and orders the State Department to re-examine its own rules on contact with Taiwan at least every five years.
These reviews could open the door to broader diplomatic, military, and economic engagement, even without formal diplomatic recognition.
The move comes at a tense time. The Chinese military has been stepping up pressure with large-scale naval drills around Taiwan and sharper comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Policy analysts see the act as a clear, bipartisan signal that Washington still backs Taiwan’s democracy, even while it maintains the long-standing “one-China” policy that has shaped relations since 1979.
The Wall Street Journal has already highlighted similar efforts in Congress earlier this year, saying they reflect deep concern in Washington over Beijing’s tougher stance in the Indo-Pacific. That includes territorial grabs in the South China Sea that put major shipping lanes and global trade at risk.
A bipartisan plan for long-term engagement
The original Taiwan Assurance Act, passed in 2020 during Trump’s first term, called for a single review of the State Department’s “contact guidelines”. These informal rules limited direct, high-level contact between US and Taiwanese officials to avoid open confrontation with Beijing.
The guidelines date back to 1979, when Washington switched official recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Since then, cabinet-level meetings, high-profile port calls, and other visible shows of support for Taiwan have usually been avoided.
The new amendment turns that one-off review into a repeating duty. Backed by Republican Representative Ann Wagner and the late Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly, the law now requires the State Department to:
- Carry out a full review at least every five years, checking how current guidelines match Taiwan’s status as a “representative government peacefully constituted through free and fair elections”.
- Highlight “opportunities and plans to lift self-imposed restrictions” on contacts, for example, by reducing limits on Taiwanese officials visiting US federal agencies.
- Send detailed written reports to the foreign affairs committees in Congress within 90 days of each review.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the act, calling it “a major step forward in US–Taiwan relations”. Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said regular reviews would support “more full engagement”, including more chances for Taiwanese delegations to visit US federal bodies.
Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo backed that view and described the law as “a firm symbol of our shared values of democracy, freedom, and respect for human rights”.
From Washington’s point of view, the act reflects a broader strategic shift. As the Wall Street Journal has noted in its coverage of Indo-Pacific security, Taiwan plays a central role in global technology supply chains. The island produces more than 60% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, which the US relies on for everything from smartphones to defence systems.
Stronger ties could lead to more joint military drills, closer intelligence cooperation, and new trade or investment deals. Supporters believe this would raise the cost of any Chinese move against Taiwan and act as a stronger deterrent.
Trump, speaking at a White House briefing and fresh from a November summit with Xi in Seoul, described the law as “smart leverage” that would “get fair play in the Pacific”. His comments fit with his wider approach of higher tariffs, pressure on Beijing, and calls for US allies such as Japan and South Korea to spend more on defence.
Beijing hits back
Beijing reacted quickly and sharply, underlining how fragile any thaw in US–China relations remains. In a press briefing on 3 December, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian called the law a “serious violation” of the one-China principle, which China sees as the core of its relations with the United States.
“The Taiwan question is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed,” Lin said, urging Washington to stop “official interactions with the Taiwan region” and to avoid “sending wrong signals to separatist forces”.
China has also increased its military activity in the area. This week, the People’s Liberation Army sent a record number of warships and aircraft near the Taiwan Strait, in what officials described as the largest operation of its kind since 2022.
State-run outlets such as Global Times condemned the US law as “provocative meddling” and warned that it could “ignite irreversible conflict”. Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng called in senior State Department officials to lodge a formal protest. Xie’s move followed a recent call between Xi and Trump in which Xi again described unification with Taiwan as “non-negotiable”.
The response fits a pattern that has become familiar over the last few years. Each US arms sale to Taipei or high-level visit to the island is met with new military drills or incursions by PLA aircraft. In 2025 alone, there have been more than 1,700 recorded crossings of the median line in the Taiwan Strait by Chinese warplanes.
Even so, some regional experts say Beijing has been careful not to trigger a direct economic clash, at least for now. Despite its angry language, China has not yet responded with broad trade retaliation, as Trump has kept in place temporary truces on new tariffs.
Cautious voices stress the risks
Although support for the act in Congress has been wide and strong, not everyone is entirely comfortable with the approach. The House passed the bill unanimously in May, and it cleared the Senate by unanimous consent in November, yet some figures in both parties have warned about the risk of miscalculation.
Progressive Democrats, including Representative Ted Lieu, who also co-sponsored the bill, praised the goal of closer ties but urged care. Lieu told reporters that the United States has to “deepen ties without handing China a pretext for aggression”, adding that strategic ambiguity has helped keep the peace for decades.
On the other side, foreign policy hawks say the law does not move fast enough. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a long-time supporter of Taiwan, argued in a Senate speech that reviews every five years are too slow when China adjusts its posture far more often.
Conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation have also criticised the act for not including an explicit pledge to defend Taiwan, saying this could appear weak at a time when the PLA is reported to be rehearsing amphibious landings and blockade scenarios.
Some broader critiques focus on how US attention and resources are allocated across Asia. A December 4 paper by Asia Society experts argued that intense focus on Taiwan can drain energy from ties with Southeast Asian partners, where China’s Belt and Road projects are steadily increasing its influence.
“Deepening engagement is important, but without multilateral buy-in from ASEAN, it risks isolating Taiwan further,” the report said.
Environmental organisations have raised different concerns. They point out that the act says nothing about clean energy or green technology cooperation, which they see as a missed chance to work with Taiwan on alternatives to China’s rare-earth dominance.
In Taiwan, the response is also mixed. Many politicians from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, including legislator Wang Ting-yu, praised the law but called for more work at home. Wang argued that Taiwan should use this window to strengthen its own defences, for example, by lifting defence spending to 3% of GDP, so it does not rely too heavily on US support.
A tense future, shaped in five-year steps
With the first review expected by 2030, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act builds more flexibility into US policy and ties future administrations to a recurring assessment of the relationship. The approach gives each White House room to adjust, but it also guarantees that Taiwan stays firmly on Washington’s agenda.
For Trump, the law is also part of his legacy. It fits with his “America First” focus on protecting supply chains, countering China’s growing power, and backing partners who share US political values. At the same time, it raises the stakes in a region already on edge, where Xi’s repeated pledges on unification and the PLA’s rapid build-up leave little margin for error.
Recent Wall Street Journal editorials have framed these moves as elements in a “new Cold War calculus”. In this view, each extra step by Washington in support of Taiwan tests how far Beijing will go without tipping the situation into open conflict.
Trump is due to visit Beijing in April, and the new law is likely to loom large over that trip. Depending on how both leaders play it, the act could act as a bargaining tool, an irritant, or both. It may give Trump a stronger hand in talks, but it also risks hardening positions in Beijing.
In Taipei, life goes on, from late-night food stalls to buzzing tech parks. In Washington, policymakers and think-tank analysts keep debating red lines, deterrence, and the right balance of clarity and ambiguity. Yet behind all the speeches and strategy papers, one simple fact remains.
What happens to Taiwan will shape the wider Pacific and global security for years to come.
This amendment doesn’t rewrite the past, but it adjusts how the future is managed, one five-year review at a time. As military drills, diplomatic protests, and trade talks continue, the rest of the world watches to see whether closer engagement leads to lasting stability or to a new crisis.
