U.S. lawmakers have introduced the Taiwan Fellowship Act in the U.S. Congress to facilitate personnel exchanges between the U.S. government and Taiwan. If passed, the proposed act would establish a program whereby 10 U.S. federal government officials would embark on a two-year fellowship exchange to learn, live, and work in Taiwan each year. Modeled on the existing 1994 Mansfield Fellowship Program between the U.S. and Japan, the Taiwan Fellowship Program aims to help U.S. officials gain a better understanding of how to advance U.S. values and interests in the Indo-Pacific region by taking advantage of the special emphasis in strengthening Washington's strategic partnership with Taiwan.
The bipartisan act was jointly introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senators Edward Markey and Marco Rubio, and concurrently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Ted Yoho and Ami Bera. In announcing the new act on June 26, 2020, Senator Markey stated that “The U.S. strategic partnership with Taiwan's vibrant democracy of 23 million people continues to grow from engagement and cooperation in areas such as trade, human rights and the rule of law, security, and battling a global pandemic. Amidst China's concerted campaign to isolate Taiwan on the global stage, an exchange of our most qualified public servants to the island nation of Taiwan is a visible demonstration of our unwavering commitment to Taiwan.”
Representative Yoho also characterized the Taiwan Fellowship Act as a long overdue investment by Washington to support the professional development of Taiwan experts in the U.S. federal government.
Raymond Burghardt, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and a founding board member of the Western Pacific Fellowship Project, welcomed the Taiwan Fellowship Act as a positive step forward in U.S.-Taiwan ties. He noted that it built on important recent Congressional initiatives addressing U.S.-Taiwan ties, including the TAIPEI Act, the Taiwan Travel Act, and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act.
The Taiwan Fellowship Act also explicitly reinforces the U.S. commitment “to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan,” as stated in the Taiwan Relations Act.
The bipartisan act was jointly introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senators Edward Markey and Marco Rubio, and concurrently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Ted Yoho and Ami Bera. In announcing the new act on June 26, 2020, Senator Markey stated that “The U.S. strategic partnership with Taiwan's vibrant democracy of 23 million people continues to grow from engagement and cooperation in areas such as trade, human rights and the rule of law, security, and battling a global pandemic. Amidst China's concerted campaign to isolate Taiwan on the global stage, an exchange of our most qualified public servants to the island nation of Taiwan is a visible demonstration of our unwavering commitment to Taiwan.”
Representative Yoho also characterized the Taiwan Fellowship Act as a long overdue investment by Washington to support the professional development of Taiwan experts in the U.S. federal government.
Raymond Burghardt, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and a founding board member of the Western Pacific Fellowship Project, welcomed the Taiwan Fellowship Act as a positive step forward in U.S.-Taiwan ties. He noted that it built on important recent Congressional initiatives addressing U.S.-Taiwan ties, including the TAIPEI Act, the Taiwan Travel Act, and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act.
The Taiwan Fellowship Act also explicitly reinforces the U.S. commitment “to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan,” as stated in the Taiwan Relations Act.
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