III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 510 

Commending the people of Taiwan on holding free and fair democratic presidential and legislative elections, and congratulating Madame Tsai Ingwen on her re-election to the presidency of Taiwan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. RISCH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commending the people of Taiwan on holding free and fair 

democratic presidential and legislative elections, and congratulating Madame Tsai Ing-wen on her re-election to 

the presidency of Taiwan. 

Whereas the people of the United States and Taiwan enjoy 

extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and 

other relations founded in shared strategic interests and 

cemented by a commitment to democratic values; 

Whereas Taiwan is a free, democratic, and prosperous nation 

of more than 23,000,000 people and an important contributor to peace and stability around the world, and its 

transformation into a robust democracy and a strong free 

market economy with a vibrant civil society offers a 

model for others in the Indo-Pacific; 


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•SRES 510 IS 

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96–8; 22 

U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), signed into law on April 10, 1979, 

codified the basis for continued commercial, cultural, security, and other relations between the people of the 

United States and the people of Taiwan, serves as the 

foundation to preserve and promote continued bilateral 

bonds, and states that it is the policy of the United 

States— 

(1) to preserve and promote extensive, close, and 

friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between 

the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan, as well as the people on the China mainland and all 

other peoples of the Western Pacific area; 

(2) to declare that peace and stability in the area 

are in the political, security, and economic interests of 

the United States, and are matters of international concern; 

(3) to make clear that the United States decision to 

establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic 

of China rests upon the expectation that the future of 

Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means; 

(4) to consider any effort to determine the future of 

Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of 

the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the 

United States; 

(5) to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and 

(6) to maintain the capacity of the United States to 

resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that 

would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic 

system, of the people of Taiwan; 


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•SRES 510 IS 

Whereas the United States and Taiwan have built a strong 

economic partnership in which— 

(1) the United States is Taiwan’s second largest 

trading partner; and 

(2) Taiwan is the 10th largest trading partner of the 

United States and a key destination for United States 

agricultural exports; 

Whereas the people of the United States and the people of 

Taiwan share deep cultural and personal ties, as exemplified by the large flow of visitors and exchanges each year 

and the over 23,000 Taiwanese students who study in the 

United States; 

Whereas the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei 

Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the 

United States signed a memorandum of understanding in 

June 2015 establishing the Global Cooperation and 

Training Framework, under which Taiwan, the United 

States, and Japan jointly sponsor training programs to 

share Taiwan’s expertise with partners around the world, 

including in the areas of public health, law enforcement, 

disaster relief, energy cooperation, women’s empowerment, digital economy and cybersecurity, media literacy, 

and good governance; 

Whereas, in 2019, the United States and Taiwan also 

launched Indo-Pacific Democratic Governance Consultations, to help Indo-Pacific countries address governance 

challenges, and a new Pacific Islands Dialogue, to help 

meet the development needs of Taiwan’s diplomatic partners in the Pacific; 

Whereas Taiwan has the expertise, willingness, and capability 

to engage further in international efforts to mitigate 

global challenges related to such issues as public health, 


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•SRES 510 IS 

aviation safety, crime, and terrorism, but its participation 

in such efforts has been constrained by conditions imposed by the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas successive Congresses have directed the executive 

branch to develop strategies to obtain meaningful participation for Taiwan in international organizations, such as 

the World Health Organization, the International Civil 

Aviation Organization, and the International Criminal 

Police Organization (commonly known as 

‘‘INTERPOL’’); 

Whereas the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public 

Law 115–409) states that— 

(1) it is United States policy ‘‘to support the close 

economic, political, and security relationship between Taiwan and the United States’’; and 

(2) the President should— 

(A) ‘‘conduct regular transfers of defense articles to Taiwan that are tailored to meet the existing 

and likely future threats from the People’s Republic 

of China, including supporting the efforts of Taiwan 

to develop and integrate asymmetric capabilities, as 

appropriate, including mobile, survivable, and costeffective capabilities, into its military forces’’; and 

(B) ‘‘encourage the travel of high-level United 

States officials to Taiwan, in accordance with the 

Taiwan Travel Act’’; 

Whereas, in presidential elections held on January 11, 2020, 

the incumbent President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, won a 

second four-year term with the most votes for a presidential candidate since Taiwan began direct elections, 

winning 57.1 percent of the presidential vote; and 


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•SRES 510 IS 

Whereas President Tsai stated in her acceptance speech: 

‘‘This election has shown that the Taiwanese people hope 

the international community will witness our commitment 

to democratic values and will respect our national identity. We also hope that Taiwan will be given a fair opportunity to participate in international affairs.’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commends the people of Taiwan on holding 

3 free and fair democratic elections on January 11, 

4 2020; 

5 (2) congratulates Madame Tsai Ing-wen on her 

6 re-election to the presidency of Taiwan, wishes her 

7 well on her inauguration on May 20, 2020, and 

8 pledges to deepen the relationship between the peo9 ples of the United States and Taiwan in her second 

10 term; 

11 (3) encourages the President to send a high12 level official delegation for President Tsai’s second 

13 inauguration, consistent with United States law; 

14 (4) calls upon the United States Government to 

15 advocate for Taiwan’s active participation in inter16 national organizations, including the World Health 

17 Organization, the International Civil Aviation Orga18 nization, and the International Criminal Police Or19 ganization; and 


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•SRES 510 IS 

1 (5) encourages United States financial support 

2 to enhance Taiwan’s international participation 

3 through the Global Cooperation and Training 

4 Framework in recognition of our shared commitment 

5 to an open, free, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region 

6 and beyond. 

Æ 


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