Update to aging TRA long overdue By Minze Chien 簡明子 Sunday last week marked the 42nd anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). The act was signed by then-US president Jimmy Carter on April 10, 1979, after passing both chambers of the US Congress to ensure that the US’ “commercial, cultural and other relations” with Taiwan would continue smoothly despite Washington’s decision to recognize the People’s Republic of China over the Republic of China. Congress at the time insisted that the act be drafted “to help maintain peace, security and stability in the western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and for other purposes.”