TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former US President Jimmy Carter is a controversial figure in Taiwan having severed diplomatic ties with the country in favor of China and signing the Taiwan Relations Act.  

The Carter Center announced on Sunday that the 39th president had died peacefully in his home in Plains Georgia at age 100, making him the longest-living president in US history. His passing stirs memories in Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, per CNA. 

In 1999, Carter visited Taiwan for the first time at the invitation of the Institute for National Policy Research. After delivering a speech in Taipei, he fielded questions from the audience.

Former Taoyuan County Magistrate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) raised her hand and commented that in 1978, Taiwan was on the verge of an important election and opposition parties had been preparing to participate. Lu said that Carter's announcement that year of severing diplomatic relations led to the suspension of the election and escalated into an incident in which many opposition leaders were arrested and handed prison sentences, hindering Taiwan's democratization. 

Lu also stressed that the lessons of history should be remembered rather than forgotten. She said she forgave Carter's “mistake” but asked if he could apologize. 

However, Carter insisted that the decision to normalize relations with China was correct. While he acknowledged that the decision was not entirely positive for the Taiwanese and expressed regret, he maintained that he should not bear responsibility for it. 

Carter argued that over the 20 years since cutting ties, Taiwan had seen significant improvements in democracy, human rights, and economic development. Therefore, he saw no need to apologize to Taiwan or its people for the decision to sever diplomatic relations. 

Carter claimed that, given the circumstances at the time, he had to make that decision. He also believed that the normalization of US-China relations indeed contributed to peace in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

He emphasized he carefully drafted the Taiwan Relations Act himself. After it was sent to Congress, it was passed with minimal amendments, apart from provisions related to embassy properties, said Carter. 

However, his remarks drew widespread criticism from officials and academics at the time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by noting that the bill initially submitted by the White House was highly simplified, drawing heavy criticism from Congress. 

It was not until the bill underwent numerous amendments in both the House and Senate that it was signed into law by Carter, according to MOFA.

In response to Carter’s claim that the severance of US-Taiwan diplomatic ties contributed to Taiwan’s political and economic development, then-Foreign Minister Jason Hu (胡志強) replied to a legislator's inquiry and dismissed Carter’s remarks as “logical fallacies.” He emphasized that Taiwan’s democratic progress and economic achievements were the fruits of its efforts and that regional peace was not because of diplomatic relations between the US and China.

Taiwanese diplomats said US self-interests and realpolitik drove Carter's decision to establish relations with China. However, they argued that Carter framed this decision with "human rights" and "peace" rhetoric, giving the Taiwanese the impression that he was a hypocrite and a politician thinking only about the next election. 

US-China exchanges had already begun during Nixon's administration. In 1972, Nixon visited China and signed a joint communique, ushering in a new era in diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

After Carter became president in 1977, he took advantage of a congressional recess in 1978 and announced the normalization of relations with China just 10 days before Christmas. He fully accepted China’s three conditions regarding Taiwan, including breaking diplomatic ties, abrogating treaties, and withdrawing US troops.

On Jan. 1, 1979, the US officially severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Later that month, the Carter administration introduced a brief bill to regulate unofficial relations between Taiwan and the US. However, influential members of Taiwan's legislature believed that the process of establishing diplomatic relations with China was poorly handled and lacked any guarantee from China not to use force against Taiwan, prompting them to call for revisions to the bill.

The bill proposed by Carter was significantly amended by Congress, which added numerous security guarantees for Taiwan. It became the current Taiwan Relations Act, which went into effect on April 10, 1979.