American Institute in Taiwan

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The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) serves as the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan. AIT exists because the United States, in maintaining diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and acknowledging its view of the One-China policy, does not officially recognize the Republic of China and hence cannot open an actual embassy there.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) is similarly represented in the U.S. by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

AIT was created in 1979 by the Taiwan Relations Act after the U.S. severed ties with Taiwan in 1978. Although it is a nominally private organization, it is authorized to perform functions normally carried on by an embassy, including issuing visas and passports. The Department of State, through a contract with AIT, provides a large part of AIT's funding and guidance in its operations.

AIT has a small headquarters office in Arlington, Virginia. AIT's largest office is located in Taipei, Taiwan. AIT also has a small branch office in Taiwan's southern port city of Kaohsiung. These three offices are referred to as AIT/Washington (AIT/W), AIT/Taipei (AIT/T) and AIT/Kaohsiung (AIT/K), respectively.[1] The Director of AIT/T serves the functions normally associated with an ambassador. The Director of AIT/T is Stephen Young (from March 18, 2006), the Managing Director of AIT/W is Barbara Schrage, and the Chairman of AIT is Raymond Burghardt.