A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers proposed matching bills in the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday that would require the United States to negotiate the renaming of Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington as the "Taiwan Representative Office," a move certain to rankle China.

It is currently called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), using the name of the island's capital city.

Should the measures become law, any change in the office's name could provide cover to smaller countries to take similar steps to boost engagement with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.