The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) serves as the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan. The AIT exists because the United States, in maintaining diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and acknowledging its view of the One-China policy, may not officially recognize the Republic of China and hence cannot open an actual embassy there. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ... The One-China policy (Traditional Chinese: 一個中國; Simplified Chinese: 一个中国; pinyin: yī gè Zhōngguó) is the principle that there is one China and that mainland China, Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, Xinjiang and Taiwan are all part of that China. ...

The Republic of China (Taiwan) is similarly represented in the U.S. by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east but gradually changes to gently sloping plains in the west. ... The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), sometimes known as Taipei Representative Offices, are de facto embassies and consulates of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in countries that do not have official relations with the ROC because of relations with the Peoples Republic of China, but have nevertheless established...

AIT was created in 1979 by the Taiwan Relations Act after the U.S. severed ties with Taiwan in 1978. Although it is a nominally private organization, it is authorized to perform functions normally carried on by an embassy, including issuing visas and passports. The staff consists of nominally private citizens, but these are officials of the United States Department of State who are technically on leave, although they continue to collect seniority. Funding for AIT comes exclusively from the United States government. This page refers to the year 1979. ... The Taiwan Relations Act is an act of the United States Congress passed in 1979 after the establishment of relations with the Peoples Republic of China and the (pro forma) breaking of relations between the United States and the Republic of China on Taiwan by President Jimmy Carter. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII in Roman) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Seniority is the concept of a person or group being in charge or in command of another person or group. ...

The headquarters of AIT is in Washington, D.C., although it also has an office in Taipei and a branch in Kaohsiung. The Director of the Taipei office serves the functions normally associated with an ambassador. The Director of the Taipei office is Stephen Young (from March 18, 2006), the Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. office is Barbara Schrage, and the Chairman of AIT is Raymond Burghardt. Nickname: the District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Official website: http://www. ... City nickname: the City of Azaleas Capital District Xinyi Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 16 of 25 271. ... Abbreviation: Kaohsiung (高雄) City nickname: The Harbor City Capital District Linya Dist. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... Stephen Young can refer to: Stephen Marvin Young, an American Democratic politician from Ohio. ...

List of Chairmen

• David Dean 1979 - 1986
• David N. Laux 1986 - 1990
• Natale H. Bellocchi 1990 - 1995
• James C. Wood, Jr. 1996 - 1997
• Richard C. Bush 1997 - 2002
• Therese Shaheen 2002 - 2004
• David G. Brown 2004-2006 (Acting)
• Raymond Burghardt 2006-present

Therese Shaheen (夏馨) was Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) from 2002 to 2004. ...

See also

• Foreign relations of Taiwan
• Political status of Taiwan

This article is about the foreign relations of the Republic of China on Taiwan. ... Taiwan Strait Area The political status of Taiwan is a controversy over whether Taiwan, including the Pescadores (Penghu), should remain the effective territory of the Republic of China (ROC), become unified with the territories now governed by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), or become the Republic of Taiwan. ...

External link

• Official website