Joint communiques above US acts

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to mark up the Taiwan Policy Act (TPA) on Wednesday, which is described as "the most comprehensive restructuring of US policy toward Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979." The TPA seeks to provide $4.5 billion in security assistance to Taiwan over four years, and recognize China's Taiwan as a "major non-NATO ally" of the United States.

Such a bill, if passed, will only ratchet up the already high tensions across the Taiwan Straits. Because it is another blatant US provocation seeking to challenge China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and hollow out the one-China principle by undermining the three joint communiques with domestic legislation.

However, the truth is, any discussion on China-US relations should be held under the framework of the three joint communiques issued by the two countries, that is, the Shanghai Communique of Feb 28, 1972, the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations of Dec 15, 1978, and the US-China Communique on US Arms Sales to Taiwan of Aug 17, 1982.