Why It Matters

A recent Congressional Research Service report examines how U.S. policy toward Taiwan presidents’ visits has evolved over three decades, from barring Taiwan’s leaders from American soil to routinely permitting transit stops while continuing to prohibit non-transit visits. Since 1994, five sitting Taiwan presidents have made a combined 30 overseas trips that included U.S. transit stops, turning the practice into a recurring point of friction among Washington, Taipei and Beijing.

The U.S. has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan since 1979, and for the first 15 years after cutting formal ties, the executive branch barred Taiwan presidents from setting foot on American soil. That posture has changed substantially. Congress has consistently pushed for broader access for Taiwan officials to the United States. The People’s Republic of China has charged that Taiwan presidents’ U.S. transit visits are inconsistent with U.S. commitments to maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan, while some experts have argued that canceling such visits risks emboldening China. What was once taboo has become a flashpoint in U.S.-China relations.

The Big Picture

The CRS report documents 30 overseas trips by five sitting Taiwan presidents since 1994 that included U.S. transit stops, marking a dramatic departure from the executive branch’s earlier policy. The shift began in May 1994, when the Clinton administration allowed then-Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to refuel his plane in Hawaii en route to Central America but prohibited an overnight stay. By September 1994, the State Department signaled a new openness: Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Winston Lord testified that overnight stops would be permitted and activities consistent with security, comfort and convenience would be allowed as long as they remained transits.

Congress formalized broader access the following month. In October 1994, it passed the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act, which provides that Taiwan presidents or high-level officials applying to visit for discussions with federal or state officials “shall be admitted.” In 1995, Congress passed H.Con.Res. 53 supporting President Lee’s private visit to Cornell University, his alma mater, by votes of 396-0 in the House and 97-1 in the Senate. Lee’s Cornell trip remains the sole non-transit U.S. visit by a Taiwan president during the era of unofficial relations. Congress later passed the Taiwan Travel Act (P.L. 115-135) in 2018, which states that it should be U.S. policy to allow high-level Taiwan officials to enter the United States and meet with U.S. officials, including State and Defense Department officials.

The pattern has continued. During her March-April 2023 transit, then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other lawmakers in New York before meeting then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other members in California. McCarthy became the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet with a Taiwan president on U.S. soil during the era of unofficial relations. The PRC responded with three days of large-scale joint military exercises around Taiwan.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s first overseas trip as president in late 2024 included stops in Hawaii and Guam. In Guam, Lai spoke separately by phone with the U.S. House speaker and minority leader. After Lai returned to Taiwan, China conducted extensive air and naval activity near the island. The American Institute in Taiwan said it viewed the activity as part of a broader increase in China’s military posture rather than specifically as a response to Lai’s U.S. transit stops.

In the 119th Congress, lawmakers have moved to reinforce the practice further. Section 206 of the Department of State Policy Provisions Act would prohibit funds made available under the legislation from being used in contravention of the 1994 law governing the admission of Taiwan presidents and other high-level officials.

The Bottom Line

Taiwan presidents’ U.S. transits have evolved from a tightly restricted exception into a regular feature of unofficial U.S.-Taiwan relations. Congress has repeatedly pushed for greater access for Taiwan’s leaders, while the executive branch has maintained a distinction between permitted transit stops and prohibited non-transit presidential visits.

Beijing has consistently criticized the transits as inconsistent with U.S. commitments to maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan. Taiwan governments, meanwhile, have generally sought presidential transit opportunities and portrayed U.S. permission for the stops as affirmation of American support.

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