Washington: United States President Donald Trump has signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which mandates the State Department to regularly review and update guidelines governing official U.S. interactions with Taiwan.

According to Focus Taiwan, the new law, signed by Trump on Tuesday (U.S. time), serves as an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020, concentrating on the review of guidelines concerning U.S. interactions with Taiwan. Previously, a one-time review by the State Department was required, but the new legislation necessitates such a review to occur “not less than every five years.”

The State Department is then obligated to submit an updated report within 90 days of completing the review to the Senate and House foreign relations committees. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed approval of this development in a statement on Wednesday (Taipei time), emphasizing that the legislation will bolster the implementation of the 2020 Taiwan Assurance Act and ensure that contact guidelines are updated to maintain steady bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung extended gratitude to the U.S. administration and Congress for their bipartisan support, noting the act’s signing as a significant advancement in U.S.-Taiwan relations. He highlighted that the frequent updates to the guidelines will facilitate enhanced engagement, potentially enabling Taiwanese officials to visit federal agencies for meetings, although the new measure does not specifically outline such outcomes.

The bipartisan measure was introduced in February by representatives Ann Wagner, the late Gerry Connolly, and Ted Lieu, receiving unanimous approval in the House in May and unanimous consent in the Senate in November. The State Department had established internal “red lines” in 1979, after Washington severed diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan), to govern contact between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.

In January 2021, during Trump’s first term, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the removal of all existing restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan contacts. The Biden administration later reinstated contact guidelines but made them more flexible, permitting routine meetings between U.S. officials and Taiwanese representatives at federal agencies and at Taiwan’s representative office in Washington.