“The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.” With this Second Joint Communiqué of the U.S. and China, issued on January 1, 1979, the Carter Administration no longer recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state, but rather preserved the “cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.” The U.S. embassy there was abolished and its place the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was established. The change in U.S. position led to massive protests in the streets of Taipei when it was first announced on December 15, 1978. At right is the symbol of National Day in Taiwan, the Double Ten (for October 10, 1911 and the fall of the Qing Dynasty.)
After Mao Zedong defeated Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang in 1949, the United States refused to recognize the People's Republic of China, but rather continued to support Chiang's Nationalist Chinese government on the island of Taiwan. By 1972, President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to Beijing, in a bid to play the “China card,” i.e., using closer ties with China to gain more leverage over the Soviets, and to tap the huge Chinese market. The PRC, for its part, was also looking for allies, as relations with its former ally, Vietnam, were now severely strained. Carter's announcement angered many in Congress, which then passed the Taiwan Relations Act giving Taiwan nearly the same status as any other nation recognized by the United States, mandating that arms sales continue, and establishing the AIT.
Neal Donnelly was Public Affairs Officer in Taiwan at the time and tells of the anger he experienced first hand, including the press conference in which the Vice Foreign Minister excoriated the U.S. in front of Secretary of State Christopher, the volatile demonstration against the U.S. motorcade, as well as how AIT and the Taiwan came to a détente of sorts, dirty jokes and all. He was interviewed by David Reuther in 2001.
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