On December 15, 1978, then-US President Jimmy Carter shocked Taiwan, the US and the world by announcing the end of relations with the Republic of China. For Americans living in Taiwan, conducting business and living everyday life, it meant a totally uncertain future. At the head of that community was then-president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, Robert Parker. Together with business and community leaders, Parker helped stop institutions from withdrawing, preserved Taiwan-US business structures and provided testimony and suggestions to Congress that would be influential in shaping the bedrock of modern US-Taiwan relations: the Taiwan Relations Act. In this episode of Zoom In Zoom Out, Robert Parker shares these stories and more from his new book, “Derecognition.” In it, he describes how he became an unexpected unofficial diplomat and together with the American community in Taiwan helped shape the close friendship that Taiwan and the US maintain today.