TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. State Department removed the word “country” from its travel advisory notice for Taiwan on Tuesday (July 11).
The travel advisory previously directed users to a “country information page” for Taiwan, but the website now lists a “Taiwan international travel information” page. A spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan (the de facto U.S. embassy) did not respond to questions about whether it was aware of the change, but it told Taiwan News that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed.
The spokesperson said the state department regularly updates its websites and factsheets, which reflect “longstanding, strong, bipartisan U.S. support for Taiwan, in line with our one China policy.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) told Taiwan News they have no comment on the change but emphasized their position that Taiwan is an independent democratic country. “The Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and the future of the ROC, Taiwan, must follow the will of all Taiwanese people,” the statement said, mirroring language commonly used to comment on issues of national sovereignty.
The travel advisory, before and after the change. (Taiwan News, U.S. state department image)
The U.S. government’s longstanding position is that it does not support Taiwan's independence.
Since 1972, the U.S. has “acknowledged” Beijing’s assertion that there is only one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. In 1979, the U.S. passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which, in addition to legally requiring the U.S. to provide arms to Taiwan, stated an expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means.”
The U.S.-Taiwan relationship is also governed by the “Six Assurances,” which were declared in 1982 and formally adopted by the U.S. government in 2016. They clarified the U.S. position on Taiwan and include assurances that the U.S. has not agreed to end arms sales to Taiwan, nor to amend the Taiwan Relations Act.
The state department's other pages on U.S.-Taiwan relations do not refer to Taiwan as a country and have not since at least 2019, though a 2022 survey of Taiwan’s human rights record was referred as a “Country Report”. U.S. government websites other than those of the state department generally do not refer to Taiwan as a country, with the exception of the CIA, which refers to Taiwan as a country throughout its World Factbook profile.
