IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 132

Relating to the Republic of China (Taiwan’s) participation in the United

Nations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 29, 1997

Mr. SOLOMON (for himself and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Relating to the Republic of China (Taiwan’s) participation

in the United Nations.

Whereas the Republic of China was the first signatory to the

Charter of the United Nations in 1945 and remained an

active member of that world body until 1971;

Whereas China was divided in 1949, and the Republic of

China (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘Taiwan’’) and the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter cited as ‘‘Mainland

China’’) have exercised exclusive jurisdiction over their

respective areas since then;

Whereas Taiwan has the 19th largest gross national product

in the world, a strong and vibrant economy, and one of

the largest foreign exchange reserves of any nation;
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Whereas Taiwan has dramatically improved its record on

human rights and routinely holds free and fair elections

in a multiparty system, as evidenced most recently by the

March 1996 presidential election and the December 1995

parliamentary elections;

Whereas the 21 million people in Taiwan have not been represented in the United Nations since 1971 and their

human rights as citizens of the world have therefore been

severely abridged;

Whereas Taiwan has in recent years repeatedly expressed its

strong desire to participate in the United Nations;

Whereas Taiwan has much to contribute to the work and

funding of the United Nations;

Whereas Taiwan has demonstrated its commitment to the

world community by responding to international disasters

and crises such as environmental destruction in the Persian Gulf and famine in Rwanda by providing financial

donations, medical assistance, and other forms of aid;

Whereas the world community has reacted positively to Taiwan’s desire for international participation, as shown by

Taiwan’s continued membership in the Asian Development Bank, the admission of Taiwan into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group as a full member, and

the accession of Taiwan as an observer at the World

Trade Organization as the first step toward becoming a

contracting party to that organization;

Whereas the United States has supported Taiwan’s participation in these bodies and indicated, in its policy review of

September 1994, a stronger and more active policy of

support for Taiwan’s participation in other international

organizations;
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Whereas in 1996 the European Parliament passed, and the

United States House of Representatives endorsed, a resolution urging support for Taiwan’s attempts to secure

better representation in international organizations;

Whereas Taiwan has repeatedly stated that its participation

in international organizations is one of parallel representation without prejudice to the current status of Mainland China in the international community and does not

represent a challenge to that status;

Whereas the United Nations and other international organizations have established precedents concerning parallel

representation, such as the cases of South Korea and

North Korea and the former two Germanies;

Whereas the decision of the United States to establish diplomatic relations with Mainland China, as expressed in the

Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96–8), is based ‘‘upon

the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means’’; and

Whereas Taiwan’s participation in international organizations

would not prevent or imperil the eventual resolution of

disputes between Taiwan and Mainland China any more

than the participation in international organizations by

the former West Germany and the former East Germany

prevented the eventual settlement of Germany’s national

status by peaceful and democratic means: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
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1 (1) Taiwan deserves full participation, including

2 a seat, in the United Nations and its related agen3 cies; and

4 (2) the Government of the United States should

5 immediately encourage the United Nations to take

6 action by considering the unique situation of Taiwan

7 in the international community and adopting a com8 prehensive solution to accommodate Taiwan in the

9 United Nations and its related agencies.

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