IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 353 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 22), 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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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HR 353 RFS

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 WHA in May 2018. 

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’’. In 2017 

6 and 2018, Taiwan did not receive an invitation to 

7 the WHA. 

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 $6 billion in 

12 international medical and humanitarian aid efforts 

13 impacting over 80 countries since 1996. In 2014, 

14 Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis by donating $1 

15 million and providing 100,000 sets of personal pro16 tective equipment. Through the Global Cooperation 

17 and Training Framework, the United States and 

18 Taiwan have jointly conducted training programs for 

19 experts to combat MERS, Dengue Fever, and Zika. 

20 These diseases know no borders, and Taiwan’s need21 less exclusion from global health cooperation in22 creases the dangers presented by global pandemics. 

23 (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has 

24 faced increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan 

25 was not invited to the 2016 Assembly of the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H353.RFS H353

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1 national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite 

2 participating as a guest at the organization’s prior 

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

4 the General Assembly of the International Criminal 

5 Police Organization (INTERPOL) have also been 

6 rejected. In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a 

7 meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict dia8 monds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from 

9 Taiwan were asked to leave. Since 2016, the Demo10 cratic Republic of Sa ̃o Tome ́ and Prı ́ncipe, the Re11 public of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina 

12 Faso, and the Republic of El Salvador have termi13 nated longstanding diplomatic relationships with 

14 Taiwan and granted diplomatic recognition to the 

15 PRC. 

16 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 

17 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 

18 that address shared transnational challenges, par19 ticularly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 

20 in the 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Con21 gress, and S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct 

22 the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for, 

23 and to report annually to Congress on, efforts to ob24 tain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA. Con25 gress also passed H.R. 1151 in the 113th Congress, 


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1 directing the Secretary to report on a strategy to 

2 gain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO Assem3 bly, and H.R. 1853 in the 114th Congress, directing 

4 the Secretary to report on a strategy to gain ob5 server status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assem6 bly. However, since 2016 Taiwan has not received 

7 an invitation to attend any of these events as an ob8 server. 

9 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE

10 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH OR11 GANIZATION.— 

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

13 of Public Law 108–235 (118 Stat. 656) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve16 ments the Secretary of State has made to the 

17 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer 

18 status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, 

19 following any annual meetings of the World Health 

20 Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer 

21 status.’’. 

22 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

23 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply begin24 ning with the first report required under subsection 


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1 (c) of section 1 of Public Law 108–235 that is sub2 mitted after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 22, 

2019. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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