Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Taiwan Identification Terminology and Label Enhancement Act” or the “TITLE Act”.
Taiwan Identification Terminology and Label Enhancement Act
A BILL
To require agencies to use the term Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings; purpose
Findings— Congress finds as follows:
The United States Government has never officially recognized the People’s Republic of China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.
The Chinese Communist Party in the People’s Republic of China seeks to control Taiwan through means of persuasion and coercion, and potentially compellance.
The People’s Liberation Army has set a goal of 2027 to have the capability to invade Taiwan, which also marks the 100-year anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army’s founding.
The People’s Republic of China refers to Taiwan as a “region” and to the President of Taiwan as “the leader of the Taiwan region”, illustrating the People’s Republic of China’s mistaken view that Taiwan is a region of China.
Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China are separated by a “median line” in the Taiwan Strait, which acts as an unofficial boundary that has generally been respected since 1999, until September 2020, when a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stated, “there is no so-called median line in the Strait”, and People’s Liberation Army aircraft and vessels have repeatedly violated since.
Taiwan officially recorded 380 Chinese air incursions into the Taiwanese Air Defense Identification Zone in 2020, 969 Chinese air incursions in 2021, and 1,115 Chinese air incursions in 2022, illustrating a growing disregard to Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Many Taiwanese individuals see the “Chinese Taipei” nomenclature as a symbol of oppression from the People’s Republic of China, of which originally stems from an effort to find a way for both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China to participate in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.
In Mandarin language, Taiwan uses a version of “Chinese Taipei” in which “Chinese” is the cultural term “zhonghua” and does not have sovereignty connotations. Comparatively, the People’s Republic of China uses a version of “Chinese Taipei” in which “Chinese” is “zhongguo” or “China” which mistakenly implies that Taiwan is part of China.
Purpose— It is the sense of Congress that Congress—
believes the United States must stand firm in the commitments it made in the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), which states that the United States must “maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan”;
continues to support and defend Taiwan as it withstands control-seeking persuasion and coercion from an increasingly aggressive People’s Republic of China; and
decries the United States Government’s use of “Chinese Taipei” nomenclature, but instead favors the use of “Taiwan,” to ultimately exert the belief that Taiwan’s status must be resolved peacefully and include the wishes of the people of Taiwan.
Sec. 3 Agency requirement to use “Taiwan”
In general— An agency may not use “Chinese Taipei” and shall use “Taiwan”, except—
in historical context explaining the People’s Republic of China’s attempt to control Taiwan through persuasion and coercion; or
in the formal title of a Federal document.
Requirement To update agency websites— Not later than 14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall ensure the website of the agency meets the requirements of this section.
Agency defined— The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.