MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2023) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto embassy of the United States, is planning to expand its office compound in Taipei, which is meant to reinforce the United States' commitment to Taiwan, CNA news agency reported.
"Due to the United States and Taiwan's strong relationship, the AIT plans to increase its staff to further support commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan," a spokesperson of the AIT told CNA in an email on Wednesday.
He added that the expansion "presents an extraordinary opportunity to provide for AIT's long-term future growth in a single, central, and secure location and reinforces America's rock-solid commitment to Taiwan."
The institute has acted as the US's de facto embassy in Taiwan since 1979, when Washington switched official recognition from Taipei to Beijing. CNA, citing the AIT spokesperson, said that the land will be used for additional office and warehouse space, a recreational center for employees, and a parking facility.
Official relations between China and its island province of Taiwan broke off in 1949, when the Kuomintang party, having lost the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party, fled to the island. Unofficial and business contacts recommenced in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the governments have remained in contact through several non-governmental organizations.
