I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7414 

To establish the Taiwan Fellowship Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2020 

Mr. YOHO (for himself and Mr. BERA) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Taiwan Fellowship Program, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Fellowship 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96– 

9 8; 22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) affirmed United States 

10 policy ‘‘to preserve and promote extensive, close, and 

11 friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations beVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7414.IH H7414

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1 tween the people of the United States and the people 

2 on Taiwan, as well as the people on the China main3 land and all other peoples of the Western Pacific 

4 area’’. 

5 (2) Consistent with the Asia Reassurance Ini6 tiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–409), the 

7 United States has grown its strategic partnership 

8 with Taiwan’s vibrant democracy of 23,000,000 peo9 ple. 

10 (3) Despite a concerted campaign by the Peo11 ple’s Republic of China to isolate Taiwan from its 

12 diplomatic partners and from international organiza13 tions, including the World Health Organization, Tai14 wan has emerged as a global leader in the 

15 coronavirus global pandemic response, including by 

16 donating more than 2,000,000 surgical masks and 

17 other medical equipment to the United States. 

18 (4) The creation of a United States fellowship 

19 program with Taiwan would support a key priority 

20 of expanding people-to-people exchanges, which was 

21 outlined in the President’s 2017 National Security 

22 Strategy. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

24 (1) to further strengthen the United States-Tai25 wan strategic partnership and broaden underVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7414.IH H7414

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1 standing of the Indo-Pacific region by temporarily 

2 assigning officials of any branch of the United 

3 States Government to Taiwan for intensive study in 

4 Mandarin and placement as Fellows with Taiwan 

5 central authorities or a Taiwanese civic institution; 

6 (2) to provide for eligible United States per7 sonnel to learn Mandarin Chinese and expand their 

8 understanding of the political economy of Taiwan 

9 and the Indo-Pacific region; 

10 (3) to better position the United States to ad11 vance its economic, security, and human rights in12 terests in the Indo-Pacific region; and 

13 (4) to encourage further expansion of other 

14 people-to-people exchanges, including by expanding 

15 the Fulbright Scholars Program, the International 

16 Visitors Leadership Program, and other exchange 

17 programs that permit the people of Taiwan to work 

18 and study in the United States. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘‘agency head’’ 

22 means— 

23 (A) in the case of the executive branch of 

24 United States Government or an agency of the 

25 legislative branch other than the Senate or the 


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1 House of Representatives, the head of the re2 spective agency; 

3 (B) in the case of the judicial branch of 

4 United States Government, the chief judge of 

5 the respective court; 

6 (C) in the case of the Senate, the Presi7 dent pro tempore, in consultation with the ma8 jority leader and the minority leader of the Sen9 ate; and 

10 (D) in the case of the House of Represent11 atives, the Speaker of the House, in consulta12 tion with the majority leader and the minority 

13 leader of the House of Representatives. 

14 (2) AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERN15 MENT.—The term ‘‘agency of the United States 

16 Government’’ includes any agency of the legislative 

17 branch and any court of the judicial branch as well 

18 as any agency of the executive branch. 

19 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com21 mittees’’ means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

23 the Senate; 

24 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

25 the Senate; 


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1 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives; and 

3 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

4 the House of Representatives. 

5 (4) DETAILEE.—The term ‘‘detailee’’ means an 

6 employee of an agency of the United States Govern7 ment on loan to the American Institute in Taiwan 

8 without a change of position from the agency at 

9 which he or she is employed. 

10 (5) IMPLEMENTING PARTNER.—The term ‘‘im11 plementing partner’’ means any United States orga12 nization described in 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986 that— 

14 (A) performs logistical, administrative, and 

15 other functions, as determined by the Depart16 ment of State and the American Institute in 

17 Taiwan in support of the Taiwan Fellowship 

18 Program; and 

19 (B) enters into a cooperative agreement 

20 with the American Institute in Taiwan to ad21 minister the Taiwan Fellowship Program. 

22 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TAIWAN FELLOWSHIP PRO23 GRAM. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 

25 establish the ‘‘Taiwan Fellowship Program’’ to provide 2- 


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1 year fellowship opportunities in Taiwan for eligible United 

2 States citizens. The Department of State, in consultation 

3 with the American Institute in Taiwan and the imple4 menting partner, may modify the program name. 

5 (b) GRANTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The American Institute in 

7 Taiwan should use amounts appropriated pursuant 

8 to section 7(a) to provide annual or multi-year 

9 grants to an appropriate implementing partner. 

10 (2) FELLOWSHIPS.—The Department of State, 

11 in consultation with the American Institute in Tai12 wan and, as appropriate, the implementing partner, 

13 should annually award not fewer than 10 2-year fel14 lowships (based on available funding) to eligible 

15 United States citizens. 

16 (c) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT; IMPLEMENTING

17 PARTNER.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act, the American Institute in Taiwan, 

19 in consultation with the Department of State, should— 

20 (1) begin negotiations with the Taipei Economic 

21 and Cultural Representative Office, or with another 

22 appropriate entity, for the purpose of entering into 

23 an agreement to facilitate the placement of fellows 

24 in an agency of the Taiwan authorities during the 

25 second year of their fellowships; and 


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1 (2) begin the process of selecting an imple2 menting partner, which— 

3 (A) shall agree to meet all of the legal re4 quirements required to operate in Taiwan; and 

5 (B) shall be composed of staff who dem6 onstrate significant experience managing ex7 change programs in the Indo-Pacific region. 

8 (d) CURRICULUM.— 

9 (1) FIRST YEAR.—During the first year of each 

10 fellowship under this section, each fellow should 

11 study— 

12 (A) the Mandarin Chinese language; 

13 (B) the people, history, and political cli14 mate on Taiwan; and 

15 (C) the issues affecting the relationship be16 tween the United States and the Indo-Pacific 

17 region. 

18 (2) SECOND YEAR.—During the second year of 

19 each fellowship under this section, each fellow, sub20 ject to the approval of the Department of State, the 

21 American Institute in Taiwan, and the implementing 

22 partner, and in accordance with the purposes of this 

23 Act, shall work in— 

24 (A) a parliamentary office, ministry, or 

25 other agency of Taiwan authorities; or 


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1 (B) an organization outside of Taiwan au2 thorities, whose interests are associated with 

3 the interests of the fellow and the agency of the 

4 United States Government from which the fel5 low had been employed. 

6 (e) PILOT PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any require7 ment under this section, during fiscal years 2021 and 

8 2022, the Secretary of State may select fewer than 10 fel9 lows for placement in a parliamentary office, ministry, or 

10 other agency of Taiwan authorities for a period shorter 

11 than 1 year. 

12 SEC. 5. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—A United States 

14 citizen is eligible for a fellowship under section 4 if he or 

15 she— 

16 (1) is an employee of the United States Govern17 ment; 

18 (2) has at least 2 years of experience in any 

19 branch of the United States Government; 

20 (3) has a strong career interest in the relation21 ship between the United States and countries in the 

22 Indo-Pacific region; 

23 (4) has demonstrated his or her commitment to 

24 further service in the United States Government; 

25 and 


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1 (5) meets any other qualifications established 

2 by the Department of State, the American Institute 

3 in Taiwan and, as appropriate, its implementing 

4 partner. 

5 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF FELLOWS.—Each recipi6 ent of a fellowship under this Act shall agree, as a condi7 tion of such fellowship— 

8 (1) to maintain satisfactory progress in lan9 guage training and appropriate behavior in Taiwan, 

10 as determined by the Department of State, the 

11 American Institute in Taiwan and, as appropriate, 

12 its implementing partner; 

13 (2) to refrain from engaging in any intelligence 

14 or intelligence-related activity on behalf of the 

15 United States Government; and 

16 (3) to continue Federal Government employ17 ment for a period of not less than 2 years after the 

18 conclusion of the fellowship. 

19 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF IMPLEMENTING PART20 NER.— 

21 (1) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—The imple22 menting partner, in close coordination with the De23 partment of State and the American Institute in 

24 Taiwan, shall— 


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1 (A) make efforts to recruit fellowship can2 didates who reflect the diversity of the United 

3 States; and 

4 (B) select fellows for the Taiwan Fellow5 ship Program based solely on merit, with appro6 priate supervision from the Department of 

7 State and the American Institute in Taiwan. 

8 (2) FIRST YEAR.—The implementing partner 

9 should provide each fellow in the first year of his or 

10 her fellowship with— 

11 (A) intensive Mandarin Chinese language 

12 training; and 

13 (B) courses in the political economy of 

14 Taiwan, China, and the broader Indo-Pacific. 

15 (3) WAIVER OF REQUIRED TRAINING.—The De16 partment of State, in coordination with the Amer17 ican Institute in Taiwan and, as appropriate, the im18 plementing partner, may waive any of the training 

19 required under paragraph (1) to the extent that a 

20 fellow has Mandarin language skills, knowledge of 

21 the topic described in paragraph (2)(B), or for other 

22 reasons approved by the Department of State and 

23 the American Institute in Taiwan. If any of the 

24 training requirement is waived for a fellow, the first 


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1 year of his or her fellowship may be shortened to the 

2 extent appropriate. 

3 (4) OFFICE; STAFFING.—The implementing 

4 partner, in consultation with the Department of 

5 State and the American Institute in Taiwan, shall 

6 maintain an office and at least 1 full-time staff 

7 member in Taiwan— 

8 (A) to liaise with the American Institute in 

9 Taiwan and Taiwan authorities; and 

10 (B) to serve as the primary in-country 

11 point of contact for the recipients of fellowships 

12 under this Act and their dependents. 

13 (5) OTHER FUNCTIONS.—The implementing 

14 partner shall perform other functions in association 

15 in support of the Taiwan Fellowship program to in16 clude those logistical and administrative in nature as 

17 may be determined by the Department of State and 

18 the American Institute in Taiwan. 

19 (d) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any fellow who fails to com21 ply with the requirements under this section shall re22 imburse the American Institute in Taiwan for— 

23 (A) the Federal funds expended for the fel24 low’s participation in the fellowship, as set forth 

25 in paragraphs (2) and (3); and 


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1 (B) interest accrued on such funds (cal2 culated at the prevailing rate). 

3 (2) FULL REIMBURSEMENT.—Any fellow who 

4 violates paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) shall 

5 reimburse the American Institute in Taiwan in an 

6 amount equal to the sum of— 

7 (A) all of the Federal funds expended for 

8 the fellow’s participation in the fellowship; and 

9 (B) interest on the amount specified in 

10 subparagraph (A), which shall be calculated at 

11 the prevailing rate. 

12 (3) PRO RATA REIMBURSEMENT.—Any fellow 

13 who violates subsection (b)(3) shall reimburse the 

14 American Institute in Taiwan in an amount equal to 

15 the difference between— 

16 (A) the amount specified in paragraph (2); 

17 and 

18 (B) the product of— 

19 (i) the amount the fellow received in 

20 compensation during the final year of the 

21 fellowship, including the value of any al22 lowances and benefits received by the fel23 low; multiplied by 

24 (ii) the percentage of the period speci25 fied in subsection (b)(3) during which the 


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1 fellow did not remain employed by the 

2 Federal Government. 

3 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the selection of the first class of fellows under this Act, 

5 and annually thereafter, the Department of State shall 

6 offer to brief the appropriate congressional committees re7 garding the following issues: 

8 (1) An assessment of the performance of the 

9 implementing partner in fulfilling the purposes of 

10 this Act. 

11 (2) The names and sponsoring agencies of the 

12 fellows selected by the implementing partner and the 

13 extent to which such fellows represent the diversity 

14 of the United States. 

15 (3) The names of the parliamentary offices, 

16 ministries, other agencies of the Taiwan authorities, 

17 and nongovernmental institutions to which each fel18 low was assigned during the second year of the fel19 lowship. 

20 (4) Any recommendations as appropriate to im21 prove the implementation of the Taiwan Fellows 

22 Program, including added flexibilities in the admin23 istration of the program. 

24 (5) An assessment of the Taiwan Fellows Pro25 gram’s value upon the relationship between the 


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1 United States and Taiwan or the United States and 

2 Asian countries. 

3 (f) ANNUAL FINANCIAL AUDIT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The financial records of any 

5 implementing partner shall be audited annually in 

6 accordance with generally accepted auditing stand7 ards by independent certified public accountants or 

8 independent licensed public accountants who are cer9 tified or licensed by a regulatory authority of a State 

10 or another political subdivision of the United States. 

11 (2) LOCATION.—Each audit under paragraph 

12 (1) shall be conducted at the place or places where 

13 the financial records of the implementing partner 

14 are normally kept. 

15 (3) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS.—The imple16 menting partner shall make available to the account17 ants conducting an audit under paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) all books, financial records, files, other 

19 papers, things, and property belonging to, or in 

20 use by, the implementing partner that are nec21 essary to facilitate the audit; and 

22 (B) full facilities for verifying transactions 

23 with the balances or securities held by deposi24 tories, fiscal agents, and custodians. 

25 (4) REPORT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

2 months after the end of each fiscal year, the 

3 implementing partner shall provide a report of 

4 the audit conducted for such fiscal year under 

5 paragraph (1) to the Department of State and 

6 the American Institute in Taiwan. 

7 (B) CONTENTS.—Each audit report 

8 shall— 

9 (i) set forth the scope of the audit; 

10 (ii) include such statements, along 

11 with the auditor’s opinion of those state12 ments, as may be necessary to present fair13 ly the implementing partner’s assets and 

14 liabilities, surplus or deficit, with reason15 able detail; 

16 (iii) include a statement of the imple17 menting partner’s income and expenses 

18 during the year; and 

19 (iv) include a schedule of— 

20 (I) all contracts and grants re21 quiring payments greater than 

22 $5,000; and 

23 (II) any payments of compensa24 tion, salaries, or fees at a rate greater 

25 than $5,000 per year. 


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1 (C) COPIES.—Each audit report shall be 

2 produced in sufficient copies for distribution to 

3 the public. 

4 SEC. 6. TAIWAN FELLOWS ON DETAIL FROM GOVERNMENT 

5 SERVICE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) DETAIL AUTHORIZED.—With the approval 

8 of the Secretary of State, an agency head may de9 tail, for a period of not more than 2 years, an em10 ployee of the agency of the United States Govern11 ment who has been awarded a fellowship under this 

12 Act, to the American Institute in Taiwan for the 

13 purposes of assignment to Taiwan authorities or an 

14 organization under section 4(d)(2)(B). 

15 (2) AGREEMENT.—Each detailee shall enter 

16 into a written agreement with the Federal Govern17 ment before receiving a fellowship, in which the fel18 low shall agree— 

19 (A) to continue in the service of the spon20 soring agency at the end of the fellowship for 

21 a period of at least 2 years unless the detailee 

22 is involuntarily separated from the service of 

23 such agency or participates in a pilot program 

24 authorized under section 4(e); and 


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1 (B) to pay to the American Institute in 

2 Taiwan any additional expenses incurred by the 

3 Federal Government in connection with the fel4 lowship if the detailee voluntarily separates 

5 from service with the sponsoring agency before 

6 the end of the period for which the detailee has 

7 agreed to continue in the service of such agen8 cy. 

9 (3) EXCEPTION.—The payment agreed to under 

10 paragraph (2)(B) may not be required of a detailee 

11 who leaves the service of the sponsoring agency to 

12 enter into the service of another agency of the 

13 United States Government unless the head of the 

14 sponsoring agency notifies the detailee before the ef15 fective date of entry into the service of the other 

16 agency that payment will be required under this sub17 section. 

18 (b) STATUS AS GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE.—A 

19 detailee— 

20 (1) is deemed, for the purpose of preserving al21 lowances, privileges, rights, seniority, and other ben22 efits, to be an employee of the sponsoring agency; 

23 (2) is entitled to pay, allowances, and benefits 

24 from funds available to such agency, which is 


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1 deemed to comply with section 5536 of title 5, 

2 United States Code; and 

3 (3) may be assigned to a position with an entity 

4 described in section 4(d)(2)(A) if acceptance of such 

5 position does not involve— 

6 (A) the taking of an oath of allegiance to 

7 another government; or 

8 (B) the acceptance of compensation or 

9 other benefits from any foreign government by 

10 such detailee. 

11 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SPONSORING AGENCY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal agency from 

13 which a detailee is detailed should provide the fellow 

14 allowances and benefits that are consistent with De15 partment of State Standardized Regulations or other 

16 applicable rules and regulations, including— 

17 (A) a living quarters allowance to cover the 

18 cost of housing in Taiwan; 

19 (B) a cost of living allowance to cover any 

20 possible higher costs of living in Taiwan; 

21 (C) a temporary quarters subsistence al22 lowance for up to 7 days if the fellow is unable 

23 to find housing immediately upon arriving in 

24 Taiwan; 


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1 (D) an education allowance to assist par2 ents in providing the fellow’s minor children 

3 with educational services ordinarily provided 

4 without charge by public schools in the United 

5 States; 

6 (E) moving expenses to transport personal 

7 belongings of the fellow and his or her family 

8 in their move to Taiwan, which is comparable 

9 to the allowance given for American Institute in 

10 Taiwan employees assigned to Taiwan; and 

11 (F) an economy-class airline ticket to and 

12 from Taiwan for each fellow and the fellow’s 

13 immediate family. 

14 (2) MODIFICATION OF BENEFITS.—The Amer15 ican Institute in Taiwan and its implementing part16 ner, with the approval of the Department of State, 

17 may modify the benefits set forth in paragraph (1) 

18 if such modification is warranted by fiscal cir19 cumstances. 

20 (d) NO FINANCIAL LIABILITY.—The American Insti21 tute in Taiwan, the implementing partner, and any au22 thorities on Taiwan or nongovernmental entities in Tai23 wan at which a fellow is detailed during the second year 

24 of the fellowship may not be held responsible for the pay, 


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1 allowances, or any other benefit normally provided to the 

2 detailee. 

3 (e) REIMBURSEMENT.—Fellows may be detailed 

4 under subsection (a)(1) without reimbursement to the 

5 United States by the American Institute in Taiwan. 

6 (f) ALLOWANCES AND BENEFITS.—Detailees may be 

7 paid by the American Institute in Taiwan for the allow8 ances and benefits listed in subsection (c). 

9 SEC. 7. FUNDING. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the American Insti12 tute in Taiwan— 

13 (1) for fiscal year 2021, $500,000 to launch the 

14 Taiwan Fellowship Program through the issuance of 

15 a competitive grant to an appropriate implementing 

16 partner; and 

17 (2) for fiscal year 2021, and each succeeding 

18 fiscal year, $3,200,000, of which— 

19 (A) $3,100,000 shall be used for a grant 

20 to the appropriate implementing partner; and 

21 (B) $100,000 shall be used for manage22 ment expenses of the American Institute in Tai23 wan related to the management of the Taiwan 

24 Fellowship Program. 


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1 (b) PRIVATE SOURCES.—The implementing partner 

2 selected to implement the Taiwan Fellowship Program 

3 may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of serv4 ices or property in carrying out such program, subject to 

5 the review and approval of the American Institute in Tai6 wan. 

Æ 


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