Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), is a self-governing democracy with a population of 23.4 million people, located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. On January 1, 1979, the United States severed diplomatic relations with the ROC in order to establish formal relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), which claims sovereignty over Taiwan. This shift led to the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Taiwan and the termination of the U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty. Instead, the U.S. government committed to maintaining "cultural, commercial, and...