I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1853 

To direct the President to develop a strategy to obtain observer status 

for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police Organization, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. SALMON (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal 

Police 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, 

3 SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE INTER4 NATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZA5 TION. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Safety, security and peace is important to 

9 every citizen of the world, and shared information 


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1 ensuring wide assistance among police authorities of 

2 nations for expeditious dissemination of information 

3 regarding criminal activities greatly assists in these 

4 efforts. 

5 (2) Direct and unobstructed participation in the 

6 International Criminal Police Organization 

7 (INTERPOL) is beneficial for all nations and their 

8 police authorities. Internationally shared information 

9 with authorized police authorities is vital to peace10 keeping efforts. 

11 (3) With a history dating back to 1914, the role 

12 of INTERPOL is defined in its constitution: ‘‘To 

13 ensure and promote the widest possible mutual as14 sistance between all criminal police authorities with15 in the limits of the laws existing in the different 

16 countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declara17 tion of Human Rights.’’. 

18 (4) Ongoing international threats, including 

19 international networks of terrorism, show the ongo20 ing necessity to be ever inclusive of nations willing 

21 to work together to combat criminal activity. The 

22 ability of police authorities to coordinate, preempt, 

23 and act swiftly and in unison is an essential element 

24 of crisis prevention and response. 


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1 (5) Taiwan maintained full membership in 

2 INTERPOL starting in 1964 through its National 

3 Police Administration but was ejected in 1984 when 

4 the People’s Republic of China (PRC) applied for 

5 membership. 

6 (6) Nonmembership prevents Taiwan from 

7 gaining access to INTERPOL’s I–24/7 global police 

8 communications system, which provides real-time in9 formation on criminals and global criminal activities. 

10 Taiwan is relegated to second-hand information from 

11 friendly nations, including the United States. 

12 (7) Taiwan is unable to swiftly share informa13 tion on criminals and suspicious activity with the 

14 international community, leaving a huge void in the 

15 global crime-fighting efforts and leaving the entire 

16 world at risk. 

17 (8) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Pol18 icy Review, declared its intention to support Tai19 wan’s participation in appropriate international or20 ganizations and has consistently reiterated that sup21 port. 

22 (9) Following the enactment of Public Law 

23 108–235, a law authorizing the Secretary of State to 

24 initiate and implement a plan to endorse and obtain 

25 observer status for Taiwan at the annual summit of 


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1 the World Health Assembly and subsequent advo2 cacy by the United States, Taiwan was granted ob3 server status to the World Health Assembly for six 

4 consecutive years since 2009. Both prior to and in 

5 its capacity as an observer, Taiwan has contributed 

6 significantly to the international community’s collec7 tive efforts in pandemic control, monitoring, early 

8 warning, and other related matters. 

9 (10) INTERPOL’s constitution allows for ob10 servers at its meetings by ‘‘police bodies which are 

11 not members of the Organization’’. 

12 (b) TAIWAN’S PARTICIPATION IN INTERPOL.—The 

13 President shall— 

14 (1) develop a strategy to obtain observer status 

15 for Taiwan in INTERPOL and at other related 

16 meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter; and 

17 (2) instruct INTERPOL Washington to offi18 cially request observer status for Taiwan in 

19 INTERPOL and to actively urge INTERPOL mem20 ber states to support such observer status and par21 ticipation for Taiwan. 

22 (c) REPORT CONCERNING OBSERVER STATUS FOR

23 TAIWAN IN INTERPOL.—Not later than 30 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 

25 transmit to Congress a report, in unclassified form, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Apr 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1853.IH H1853

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1 scribing the United States strategy to endorse and obtain 

2 observer status for Taiwan in INTERPOL and at other 

3 related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter. 

4 The report shall include the following: 

5 (1) A description of the efforts the President 

6 has made to encourage INTERPOL member states 

7 to promote Taiwan’s bid to obtain observer status in 

8 INTERPOL. 

9 (2) A description of the actions the President 

10 will take to endorse and obtain observer status for 

11 Taiwan in INTERPOL and at other related meet12 ings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter. 

Æ 


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