US diplomatic staff are required to abide by strict guidelines when making contact with Taiwanese authorities and representative offices “on all occasions through the year” and “especially in the weeks prior to the Oct. 10” anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China (ROC), a cable released by WikiLeaks on Tuesday said.

The cable, dated Sept. 5, 2008, showed that then-US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice issued a directive to overseas diplomatic missions detailing the guidelines, which the cable said did not apply to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

The cable was meant to ensure that the unofficial relations between the US and Taiwan, which began in 1979 when the US recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, were upheld.