For forty-five years, the Taiwan Relations Act has been the lodestar guiding U.S. relations with Taiwan. Congress passed the legislation in April 1979, four months after President Jimmy Carter switched U.S. diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China from the Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan. The law has been a touchpoint for every president since. With fears now mounting that China could soon seek to take Taiwan by force, we talked with Shirley Kan, an independent analys