TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Congressional representatives reintroduced a bill to both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday (May 10), calling for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) to be renamed the “Taiwan Representative Office.”

The bill in the House of Representatives has bipartisan support, and was introduced by John Curtis and Chris Pappas, while the Senate bill was backed by Marco Rubio. The goal of the bill is to “correctly name the de facto embassy of our longtime friend and ally, Taiwan,” said Curtis in a press release.



TECRO in Washington provides the same services and functions as most foreign embassies. However, under current law, the office cannot be officially named or recognized as a national embassy.

A similar bill was introduced to Congress in February 2022, but never made it to a floor vote. The current Senate bill (S.1513) has already been sent to the Committee on Foreign Relations for consideration.



The press release notes that in late 2022, Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a representative office using the name “Taiwan” in the country, rather than China’s preferred designation of “Chinese Taipei.” Since then, the European country has faced a backlash and economic coercion from China.

In the press release, Pappas said the bipartisan legislation will “properly recognize Taiwan’s de-facto embassy and demonstrate our continued support. We must continue to stand with our democratic allies against authoritarian regimes and counter China’s attempts to intimidate and bully Taiwan and other countries.”

Senator Rubio was also quoted in the press release: “Taiwan is an indispensable partner and an exemplary beacon of democracy in the Indo-Pacific region. At a time when the Chinese Communist Party actively intimidates and coerces Taiwan, the U.S. must make it clear that hostile powers have no right to claim sovereignty over democratic nations."

In related news, two other bills were recently introduced in Washington, which are both intended to address tax agreements between the U.S. and Taiwan.

The first bill (S. 1457) was introduced to the Senate on May 4 by Robert Menendez. It aims to establish a new tax agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and TECRO.

The second bill is a bicameral and bipartisan effort to extend tax preferences to Taiwanese businesses and alleviate the burden of double taxation.

According to a press release, “Congress should amend the tax code to reduce the burden on U.S.-Taiwan cross-border investment.” If passed, the agreement would provide, “treaty-like benefits through the tax code that will strengthen the economic partnership between the U.S. and Taiwan in an expedited way.”