Overview
AIT is a non-profit public corporation incorporated in the District of Columbia on 16 January 1979 after the US established full diplomatic relations with the PRC on January 1, 1979. Following the authorization of Taiwan Relations Act, the Department of State, through a non-official contract with AIT, provides guidance and some funding in its operations. Like other U.S. missions abroad, AIT is staffed by employees of the Department of State and other agencies of the United States, as well as by locally-hired staff. Prior to a 2002 amendment to the Foreign Service Act (Section 503 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended by the Department of State Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003), United States government employees were required to resign from government service for their period of assignment to AIT.
AIT has a small headquarters office in Arlington County, Virginia with its largest office located in Taipei, Taiwan. The organization 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. The Director of AIT/T is William A. Stanton (from September 2009), the Managing Director of AIT/W is Barbara Schrage, and the Chairman of AIT is Raymond Burghardt. AIT has a virtual branch office in Taichung.
AIT's new office complex at No. 100 Jin Hu Road, Neihu District, Taipei, is scheduled to be completed on or before April 5, 2012. This is according to a sign posted at the entrance to the construction site.
For the purposes of remuneration and benefits, directors of AIT hold the same rank as ambassador and, in Taiwan, are accorded diplomatic privileges in their capacity as directors.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office similarly represents the Republic of China in the United States.
From 1953 to 1979, the United States Ambassador to China was based in Taipei.
Read more about this topic: American Institute In Taiwan