American Institute in Taiwan


The American Institute in Taiwan is the de facto embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversight. The AIT was officially created as a U.S. government-sponsored nonprofit, private corporation established under the auspices of the U.S. government to serve its interests in Taiwan.
Primarily staffed by employees of the United States Department of State and local workers, the AIT provides consular services normally offered by United States diplomatic missions, with the Great Seal of the United States hung at the main office in Taipei. The establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1979 required the United States to develop its own "One China policy" and subsequently to terminate official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. The AIT now serves to assist and protect U.S. interests in Taiwan in a quasiofficial manner, and also processes U.S. visas and provides consular services to U.S. expatriates. Following the swift passage of the 2018 Taiwan Travel Act by the United States, it now serves as a high-level representative bureau on behalf of United States in Taiwan. It receives full protection from the United States Marine Corps as do U.S. embassies.
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Overview

AIT is a nonprofit corporation established pursuant to the Taiwan Relations Act to manage America's unofficial relationship with Taiwan; it was incorporated in the District of Columbia on 16 January 1979 after the U.S. established full diplomatic relations with the PRC on January 1, 1979. This model, with an alternative form of American representative office established in Taiwan after the diplomatic relations were severed, was based on the AIT's Japanese counterpart stationed in Taipei since 1972, and was therefore referred to as the Japanese Model.
Following the authorization of the Taiwan Relations Act, the Department of State, through a semiofficial contract with AIT, provides guidance and "funds a large part of AIT's operations." Like other U.S. missions abroad, AIT is staffed by employees of the Department of State and other agencies of the United States, as well as by locally hired staff. Prior to a 2002 amendment to the Foreign Service Act, United States government employees were required to resign from government service for their period of assignment to AIT. According to Section 12 of the Taiwan Relations Act, agreements conducted by AIT have to be reported to Congress, just as other international agreements concluded by United States and governments with which it has diplomatic relations. Thus, while relations between the U.S. and Taiwan through AIT are conducted on an informal basis, the U.S. government still treats the relationship within the same confines as with other states with formal diplomatic relations.
AIT has a small headquarters office in Arlington County, Virginia with its largest office located in Taipei, Taiwan. The organization also has a branch office in Taiwan's strategic southern port city of Kaohsiung. These three bureaus are referred to as AIT/Washington, AIT/Taipei and AIT/Kaohsiung, respectively.
The AIT office complex at No. 100 Jinhu Road, Neihu District, Taipei, was inaugurated in 2019. From 1979 to 2019, AIT/Taipei was located in the Daan District, on the site where the U.S. Military Advisory Group had previously been headquartered.
For the purposes of remuneration and benefits, directors of the AIT hold the same rank as ambassador and, in Taiwan, are accorded diplomatic privileges in their capacity as directors.
Its counterpart in the United States is the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.
In May 2024, Raymond Greene was announced as the incoming AIT director, effective summer 2024, succeeding Sandra Oudkirk. During Greene's first meeting with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, he said the United States' longstanding policy on Taiwan is based on the US' "One China" policy. In a press release describing the meeting, Lai's office omitted the "one China" reference, and instead described Greene's remarks as having referenced "the longstanding U.S. policy." Lai's office denied it intentionally omitted the reference to the one China policy, which was challenged by local Taiwanese media.

New compound in Taipei

A new $250 million compound for the American Institute in Taiwan was unveiled in June 2018, accompanied by a "low-key" U.S. delegation and several mid-level diplomats. According to the AIT the new complex represents "the United States' brick-and-mortar commitment to Taiwan."
In 2019 director Christensen buried a time capsule at the new AIT complex in Neihu. The time capsule is not to be unearthed for 50 years.

Protests

Several protests have been staged outside the institute.
Protests were staged by Taiwanese outside the institute in response to then US President Bill Clinton's meeting with Jiang Zemin in 1998.
Three Taiwanese firms protested American institute's failure to pay fees owed for contracting work on the office's new premises in 2013, then under construction.
In May, 2024, protestors gathered outside institute to protest the United States' participation in the destruction of Gaza and killing of its citizens. Protestors said the United States was complicit in genocide.

Principal officers

List of directors

List of deputy directors

  • William A. Brown
  • William Wayt Thomas Jr.
  • Thomas S. Brooks
  • Jerome C. Ogden
  • Scott S. Hallford
  • James A. Larocco
  • Christopher J. LaFleur
  • Lauren K. Moriarty
  • Stephen Young
  • Pamela J. H. Slutz
  • David J. Keegan
  • Robert S. Wang
  • Eric H. Madison
  • Brent Christensen
  • Robert W. Forden
  • Raymond F. Greene
  • Jeremy A. Cornforth
  • Karin M. Lang

List of political section chiefs

The Political Section, originally known as the General Affairs Section, is led by a chief which is similar to a political counselor in other embassies.
;Chiefs, General Affairs Section
;Chiefs, Political Section
  • Joseph R. Donovan Jr.
  • Melvin T. L. Ang
  • James L. Huskey
  • David H. Rank
  • Daniel Turnbull
  • William Klein
  • Christian M. Marchant
  • Bradley S. Parker
  • Richard Jao
  • Michael Pignatello

List of commercial officers

  • William D. McClure
  • Raymond Sander
  • William Brekke
  • Terry Cooke
  • Gregory Loose
  • Gregory Wong
  • Helen Hwang
  • Scott Pozil
  • Amy Chang

List of chairpersons