House GOP promotes use of 'Taiwan' over 'Chinese Taipei' in slight to Beijing

A group of House Republicans is introducing legislation to assert Taiwan as the official name of the independently-governed island in U.S. communication, pushing back against claims to the territory by the Chinese government in Beijing.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) authored the America Supports Taiwan Act on Friday, legislation that would eliminate any reference to “Chinese Taipei” in U.S. communication and replace it with “Taiwan.” Reps. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) are co-sponsors. A copy of the legislation was exclusively shared with The Hill.

The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official U.S. stance is not to recognize or advocate for Taiwan's independence. The U.S. rarely uses the term “Chinese Taipei,” although it has appeared in some government communication. Taiwan’s embassy in Washington is referred to as the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” — a nod to Beijing’s demands that the country not be referred to as Taiwan. The legislation does not address that office's name.

The People’s Republic of China, the official name for the government in Beijing, opposes any international effort to recognize Taiwan’s independence, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take over the island by force. Beijing put a trade embargo on Lithuania after it officially recognized the Taiwan representation in the country, as opposed to the Taipei economic office.

Donalds’s legislation aims to bolster U.S. policy supporting Taiwan against Chinese coercion or aggression which threatens its sovereignty.

The legislation “decries the United States Government’s use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ nomenclature, and instead favors the use of ‘Taiwan’, so as to avoid connotations of possession with the ‘Chinese Taipei’ term in English, and support resolution of cross-Strait differences by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait,” according to the text.

“Taiwan is a key U.S. strategic partner despite Chinese claims over their sovereignty. It’s important that we shoot straight with the American people, the world, and call things what they are,” Donalds said in a statement to The Hill.

“The name ‘Chinese Taipei’ is nothing more than a tool of Beijing’s strategy of diplomatic coercion. The ‘America Supports Taiwan Act’ takes corrective action to stand with our partner and counter the encroachment of the Chinese Communist Party.”

The legislation gives U.S. agencies 14 days to update their websites and protocols to better reflect “Taiwan” instead of “Chinese Taipei.” There are carve-outs for the U.S. to refer to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei in international organizations where the country uses that name and when referring to “historical context explaining the People’s Republic of China’s attempt to control Taiwan through persuasion and coercion.”

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