The U.S. Breaks Relations with a Loyal Ally for the First Time in History: Former AmCham Taipei President Robert Parker Tells the Story of “Derecognition”

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The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith

294 episodes

6 days ago

Formosa Files is the world's biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast. We use an engaging storytelling format and are non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure - and, you can just find a topic that interests you and check out that episode...skip stuff that isn't your thing. The hosts are John Ross, an author and publisher of works on Taiwan and China, and Eryk Michael Smith, a journalist for local and global media outlets. Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for over two decades and call the island home. Email: formosafiles@gmail.com

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The U.S. Breaks Relations with a Loyal Ally for the First Time in History: Former AmCham Taipei President Robert Parker Tells the Story of “Derecognition” – S5-E30

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

47 minutes 22 seconds

1 month ago

The U.S. Breaks Relations with a Loyal Ally for the First Time in History: Former AmCham Taipei President Robert Parker Tells the Story of “Derecognition” – S5-E30

Everyone knew it was coming, but when U.S. President Carter announced on Dec. 15, 1978 that Washington D.C. was switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in two weeks, both the Taiwanese people and the foreign community (then mostly Americans) were shocked.

On that historic day of Jan. 1, 1979, Robert Parker began his term as the President of the American Chamber of Commerce. He soon found himself forced to act as a kind of de facto U.S. ambassador. Part of the bombshell announcement was the deadline for decoupling: everything and everyone officially connected to the United States would vanish by April 1979.

For Parker, this resulted in near-surreal experiences that included helping cobble together a civilian radio station in 90 days (ICRT FM100.7), walking a political tightrope to determine the legality of the Taipei American School, and testifying before the U.S. Congress as American officials reacted to Carter’s recognition of the PRC by passing the Taiwan Relations Act… a large part of which was based on his testimony.

These tumultuous times are described in his 2025 book (written with Don Shapiro), “Derecognition: How Americans in Taiwan surmounted multiple crises and helped shape the Taiwan Relations Act when the U.S. broke diplomatic relations with a loyal ally” – and this week, we’re happy to have Mr. Parker on Formosa Files for a fascinating chat.

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Music : "Love Rain" By Thomas Gresen is licensed under a Creative Commons License. GRSN Music. 24 July 2022