This CRS Report discusses U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, or Republic of China (ROC), including policy issues for Congress and legislation. The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), P.L. 96-8, has governed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan since 1979, when the United States recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) instead of the ROC. Despite the absence of diplomatic relations, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have been increasingly significant. The United States has expanded military exchanges with Taiwan after the PRC's missile exercises in 1995-1996, and has conducted assessments of Taiwan's defense needs. At the U.S.- Taiwan arms sales talks on April 24, 2001, President George W. Bush approved for sale to Taiwan diesel-electric submarines, P-3 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft, 4 decommissioned U.S. Kidd-class destroyers, and other items. He also deferred approval for Aegis-equipped destroyers. Since then, attention has turned to Taiwan, where the military, civilian officials, and legislators from competing political parties have debated contentious issues about how much to spend on defense and which U.S. weapons systems to acquire, despite the increasing threat from the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The Administration and others have questioned Taiwan's seriousness about its self-defense and protection of national security information. One issue for Congress concerns whether trends in the Taiwan Strait are stabilizing or destabilizing and how the Administration's policy has affected these trends, including any policy reviews or changes concerning arms sales to and military relations with Taiwan. Another catalyst for this debate arose out of the Bush-Jiang summit in Crawford, TX, in Oct 2002, when President Jiang reportedly offered a freeze or reduction in China's buildup of missiles targeted at Taiwan, in return for restraints in U.S. security assistance for Taiwan. This Report concludes with a table on major defense sales to Taiwan since 1990.


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