Office/Agency: Congressional Research Service
title: China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy
date: June 24, 2011
[ In the Summary at the beginning of that report the following points were made -- ]
quote:

The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the U.S.-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982. The United States "acknowledged" the "one China" position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

  . . . . .

Not recognizing the PRC's claim over Taiwan or Taiwan as a sovereign state, U.S. policy has considered Taiwan's status as unsettled.

[ On page 5 the following points were made -- ]
quote:

The concept of "one China" has been complicated by the coexistence of the PRC government ruling the mainland and the ROC government on Taiwan since 1949. Taiwan was never ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC) or as part of the PRC.

[ On page 7 the following points were made -- ]
quote:

Even while recognizing the ROC government and its "jurisdiction" over Taiwan, on the eve of the Nixon Administration's contacts with PRC leaders in Beijing, the State Department testified to Congress in 1969 and 1970 that the juridical matter of the status of Taiwan remained undetermined. The State Department also wrote that:

In neither [the Japanese Peace Treaty of 1951 nor the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan of 1952] did Japan cede this area [of Formosa and the Pescadores] to any particular entity. As Taiwan and the Pescadores are not covered by any existing international disposition, sovereignty over the area is an unsettled question subject to future international resolution. Both the Republic of China and the Chinese Communists disagree with this conclusion and consider that Taiwan and the Pescadores are part of the sovereign state of China. The United States recognizes the Government of the Republic of China as legitimately occupying and exercising jurisdiction over Taiwan and the Pescadores.

(source: CRS Report for Congress, June 24, 2011 -- China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy)

Office/Agency: Congressional Research Service
title: China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy
date: July 9, 2007
[ In the Summary at the beginning of that report the following points were made -- ]
quote:

(1) The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three US-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982.
(2) The United States "acknowledged" the "One China" position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
(3) US policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan;
(4) US policy has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and
(5) US policy has considered Taiwan's status as undetermined.

(source: CRS Report for Congress, July 9, 2007 -- China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy)