[5] In the letter, Ambassador Cui stated the legislation together with another bill (that has not passed[update]) represent “provocations against China's sovereignty, national unity and security interests,” and “have crossed the ‘red line’ on the stability of the China-U.S. relationship”.

One Democratic aide said: “Making these sorts of threats and laying down ‘red lines’ on domestic legislative action is neither helpful or constructive to build the sort of relationship needed between the United States and China.”[5] The Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin noted:Other congressional aides said that no other embassy uses threats as a tactic to influence Congress, especially not via an official communication.

[5]Ranking House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY) said in response:“China carries out this kind of heavy-handed behavior with other countries around the world.

It's interesting to me that they now feel that they can get away with these kind of threats and vague pressure tactics with the U.S. Congress.”[5]It has been suggested that China's heavy-handed tactics and direct threats to United States Congress through official communications backfired, by forcing Congress to make a show of force against perceived Chinese bullying.

[7][6] Committee Chairman Ed Royce explained:Currently, the State Department enforces self-imposed restrictions on official travel between the U.S. and Taiwan.

This bill denounces that practice by encouraging more frequent official visits – including at the highest levels – and will serve to further strengthen the critical U.S.-Taiwan partnership.

This bill builds off legislation we passed out of the committee last month, which addressed Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Assembly.

[7]The following day on October 13, 2017, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented:[8]The Chinese side urges the US side to comply with the one-China principle and the principles of the three China-US joint communiques and cautiously handle the Taiwan question, not to engage in any official exchange and contact with Taiwan or send any wrong message to the "Taiwan independence" separatists lest the larger picture of the China-US relations should be disrupted and undermined.In January 2018, the bill was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives.

In New York, she also met with a U.S. congressional delegation headed by U.S. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX).

"[19] This Congressional Delegation trip (CODEL) embodies the type of high level exchange that the Taiwan Travel Act adopted in 2018 and supported in ALEC model policy was meant to facilitate.