US lawmakers push to rename Taiwan’s de facto embassy – a move sure to rankle China
- A name change for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office could encourage smaller countries to take similar steps to boost ties with the island
- The measure would show Washington’s support for Taiwan ‘to determine its own future’, one of the US senators behind the proposed legislation says
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers proposed matching bills in the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday that would require the United States to negotiate the renaming of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington as the “Taiwan Representative Office”, a move certain to rankle China.
It is currently called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), using the name of the island’s capital city.
Should the measures become law, any change in the office’s name could provide cover to smaller countries to take similar steps to boost engagement with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
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The United States, like most countries, does not have official ties with democratically governed Taiwan, but is its biggest international backer.
The bills direct the US Secretary of State to “seek to enter into negotiations” with TECRO to rename its office as the “Taiwan Representative Office”.