117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 812 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to 

regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health 

Organization, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD 

2 HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings: 

5 (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) is 

6 a specialized agency of the United Nations, charged 

7 with coordinating health efforts within the United 

8 Nations system. The World Health Assembly 

9 (WHA) is the decision-making body of the WHO, 

10 which convenes annually in May to set the policies 

11 and priorities of the organization. Statehood is not 

12 a requirement for attendance at the WHA, and nu13 merous observers, including non-members and non14 governmental organizations, attended the most re15 cent virtual WHA in May 2020. 

16 (2) Taiwan began seeking to participate in the 

17 WHO as an observer in 1997. In 2009, with strong 

18 support from successive United States Administra19 tions, Congress, and like-minded WHO Member 

20 States, and during a period of improved Cross-Strait 

21 relations, Taiwan received an invitation to attend 

22 the WHA as an observer under the name ‘‘Chinese 

23 Taipei’’. Taiwan received the same invitation each 

24 year until 2016, when following the election of Presi25 dent Tsai-Ing Wen of the Democratic Progressive 

26 Party, Taiwan’s engagement in the international 
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1 community began facing increased resistance from 

2 the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s in3 vitation to the 2016 WHA was received late and in4 cluded new language conditioning Taiwan’s partici5 pation on the PRC’s ‘‘one China principle’’. The 

6 WHO did not invite Taiwan to attend the WHA as 

7 an observer in 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2020. 

8 (3) Taiwan remains a model contributor to 

9 world health, having provided financial and technical 

10 assistance to respond to numerous global health 

11 challenges. Taiwan has invested over 

12 $6,000,000,000 in international medical and human13 itarian aid efforts impacting over 80 countries since 

14 1996. In 2014, Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis 

15 by donating $1,000,000 and providing 100,000 sets 

16 of personal protective equipment. Through the Glob17 al Cooperation and Training Framework, the United 

18 States and Taiwan have jointly conducted training 

19 programs for experts to combat MERS, Dengue 

20 Fever, and Zika. In 2020, after successfully con21 taining the spread of the novel coronavirus within its 

22 borders while upholding democratic principles, Tai23 wan generously donated millions of pieces of per24 sonal protective equipment and COVID–19 tests to 

25 countries in need. These diseases know no borders, 
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1 and Taiwan’s needless exclusion from global health 

2 cooperation increases the dangers presented by glob3 al pandemics. 

4 (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has 

5 faced increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan 

6 was not invited to the 2016 Assembly of the Inter7 national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite 

8 participating as a guest at the organization’s prior 

9 summit in 2013. Taiwan’s requests to participate in 

10 the General Assembly of the International Criminal 

11 Police Organization (INTERPOL) have also been 

12 rejected. In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a 

13 meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict dia14 monds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from 

15 Taiwan were asked to leave. Since 2016, the Demo16 cratic Republic of Sa ̃o Tome ́ and Prı ́ncipe, the Re17 public of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina 

18 Faso, the Republic of El Salvador, the Solomon Is19 lands, and the Republic of Kiribati have terminated 

20 longstanding diplomatic relationships with Taiwan 

21 and granted diplomatic recognition to the PRC. 

22 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 

23 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 

24 that address shared transnational challenges, par25 ticularly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 
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1 in the 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Con2 gress, and S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct 

3 the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for, 

4 and to report annually to Congress on, efforts to ob5 tain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA. Con6 gress also passed H.R. 1151 in the 113th Congress, 

7 directing the Secretary to report on a strategy to 

8 gain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO Assem9 bly, and H.R. 1853 in the 114th Congress, directing 

10 the Secretary to report on a strategy to gain ob11 server status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assem12 bly. However, since 2016, Taiwan has not received 

13 an invitation to attend any of these events as an ob14 server. 

15 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE

16 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH OR17 GANIZATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 1 

19 of the Act entitled, ‘‘To address the participation of 

20 Taiwan in the World Health Organization’’ (Public 

21 Law 108–235; 22 U.S.C. 290 note) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve24 ments the Secretary of State has made to the 

25 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer 
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1 status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, 

2 following any annual meetings of the World Health 

3 Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer 

4 status.’’. 

5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

6 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply begin7 ning with the first report required under subsection 

8 (c) of section 1 of the Act entitled, ‘‘To address the 

9 participation of Taiwan in the World Health Organi10 zation’’ (Public Law 108–235; 22 U.S.C. 290 note) 

11 that is submitted after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act. 

Passed the Senate August 6 (legislative day, August 

5), 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 812 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of State to develop a stratposes. World Health Organization, and for other pur- egy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the