American diplomatic and military support for Taiwan has grown dramatically during the Trump years. The administration has taken steps to boost that support, but Congress also has pushed its own initiatives. One key measure was the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act in 2018, which not only authorized but encouraged high-level defense and foreign policy officials to interact with their Taiwanese counterparts.
That was a dramatic change from the policy adopted when the United States shifted diplomatic relations from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1979. U.S. policy thereafter had confined all contacts to low-level officials only. More recent congressional measures have sought to emphasize that the United States is firmly in Taiwan’s camp. The trend is not merely a matter of academic interest, since under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the United States is obligated to regard any attempt by Beijing to coerce Taiwan as a “grave breach of the peace” in East Asia.
The U.S. determination to resist China’s attempts to exert its power in the Western Pacific has grown still stronger after Beijing imposed a new national security law on Hong Kong in May, greatly diluting (if not negating) that territory’s guaranteed political autonomy. The Trump administration, with bipartisan congressional support, rescinded Hong Kong’s special trade status and adopted other punitive measures.
CIRSD Receives High-Level Delegation from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) welcomed a high-level delegation from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for a strategic meeting aimed at deepening cooperation between the two institutions.
Read more
CIRSD Co-Hosts Horizons Discussion on the Future of Warfare at Cambridge University
On July 15th, the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), in cooperation with the Centre for Geopolitics of Cambridge University, co-hosted a Horizons Discussion entitled “The Future of Warfare.”
Read more
Power Projection in the Digital Age
When people think of geopolitical conflict, they often envision a war room with a map spread across the table—military generals and political leaders maneuvering plastic figurines in strategic formations, reminiscent of the board game Risk.
Read more
Horizons Hosts James Dorsey for a Discussion on Middle East Escalation
The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted an award-winning journalist and scholar Dr. James M. Dorsey for a special Horizons Discussion on June 23rd, 2025. In conversation with Horizons Managing Editor Stefan Antić, Dorsey unpacked the lightning-fast escalation between Israel and Iran, the Trump administration’s divided response, and the wider stakes for regional and great-power politics.
Read more