Congress members urge U.S. to allow name change for Taiwan office
12/18/2020 07:33 PM
CNA file photo
Washington, Dec. 17 (CNA) Members of the United States Congress on Thursday sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging the U.S. government to allow Taiwan to change the name of its office in Washington to the Taiwan Representative Office.
The suggested name change from the existing Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office was one of the three issues raised by 78 members of the House of Representatives with respect to the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relationship. For the past forty years, the State Department has not referred to Taiwan as Taipei, Chinese Taipei, Taiwan, China, or some other name, the letter read, noting that the use of the name Taipei fails to accurately reflect the strong ties between the two countries.
2020/12/18 15:28 U.S., Taiwan flags (Getty Images) U.S., Taiwan flags (Getty Images) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Seventy-eight lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday (Dec. 17) sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington D.C. to be renamed Taiwan Representative Office. The politicians, including representatives Michael McCaul and Ted Yoho, wrote to Pompeo pointing out that over the past 40 years, the U.S. State Department has not referred to Taiwan as Taipei or Chinese Taipei. They stated that exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan are not limited to national governments, but also include local governments and people. Therefore, the use of Taipei does not truly reflect the current reality of bilateral relations, they reasoned.
US lawmakers call to rename TECRO
‘ENDURING CHANGES’: The US representatives also urged the US Department of State to lift ‘self-imposed guidelines’ restricting bilateral relations between the US and Taiwan
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
A joint letter by 78 US lawmakers calls on the US government to change the name of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington to the “Taiwan Representative Office” and start talks toward a free-trade agreement.
Dated Thursday, the letter addressing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was signed by US representatives Michael McCaul, Steve Chabot and other Republicans.
Following the Nov. 3 election, US Democrats would hold 222 of the US House of Representatives’ 435 seats, compared with the Republicans’ 211.