II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 249 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

MANCHIN, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD 

4 HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) is 

8 a specialized agency of the United Nations, charged 

9 with coordinating health efforts within the United 


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1 Nations system. The World Health Assembly 

2 (WHA) is the decision-making body of the WHO, 

3 which convenes annually in May to set the policies 

4 and priorities of the organization. Statehood is not 

5 a requirement for attendance at the WHA, and nu6 merous observers, including non-members and non7 governmental organizations, attended the most re8 cent WHA in May 2018. 

9 (2) Taiwan began seeking to participate in the 

10 WHO as an observer in 1997. In 2009, with strong 

11 support from successive United States Administra12 tions, Congress, and like-minded WHO Member 

13 States, and during a period of improved Cross-Strait 

14 relations, Taiwan received an invitation to attend 

15 the WHA as an observer under the name ‘‘Chinese 

16 Taipei’’. Taiwan received the same invitation each 

17 year until 2016, when following the election of Presi18 dent Tsai-Ing Wen of the Democratic Progressive 

19 Party, Taiwan’s engagement in the international 

20 community began facing increased resistance from 

21 the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s in22 vitation to the 2016 WHA was received late and in23 cluded new language conditioning Taiwan’s partici24 pation on the PRC’s ‘‘one China principle’’. In 2017 


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1 and 2018, Taiwan did not receive an invitation to 

2 the WHA. 

3 (3) Taiwan remains a model contributor to 

4 world health, having provided financial and technical 

5 assistance to respond to numerous global health 

6 challenges. Taiwan has invested over 

7 $6,000,000,000 in international medical and human8 itarian aid efforts impacting over 80 countries since 

9 1996. In 2014, Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis 

10 by donating $1,000,000 and providing 100,000 sets 

11 of personal protective equipment. Through the Glob12 al Cooperation and Training Framework, the United 

13 States and Taiwan have jointly conducted training 

14 programs for experts to combat MERS, Dengue 

15 Fever, and Zika. These diseases know no borders, 

16 and Taiwan’s needless exclusion from global health 

17 cooperation increases the dangers presented by glob18 al pandemics. 

19 (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has 

20 faced increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan 

21 was not invited to the 2016 Assembly of the Inter22 national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite 

23 participating as a guest at the organization’s prior 

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

25 the General Assembly of the International Criminal 


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1 Police Organization (INTERPOL) have also been 

2 rejected. In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a 

3 meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict dia4 monds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from 

5 Taiwan were asked to leave. Since 2016, the Demo6 cratic Republic of Sa ̃o Tome ́ and Prı ́ncipe, the Re7 public of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina 

8 Faso, and the Republic of El Salvador have termi9 nated longstanding diplomatic relationships with 

10 Taiwan and granted diplomatic recognition to the 

11 PRC. 

12 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 

13 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 

14 that address shared transnational challenges, par15 ticularly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 

16 in the 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Con17 gress, and S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct 

18 the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for, 

19 and to report annually to Congress on, efforts to ob20 tain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA. Con21 gress also passed H.R. 1151 in the 113th Congress, 

22 directing the Secretary to report on a strategy to 

23 gain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO Assem24 bly, and H.R. 1853 in the 114th Congress, directing 

25 the Secretary to report on a strategy to gain obVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S249.IS S249

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1 server status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assem2 bly. However, since 2016 Taiwan has not received 

3 an invitation to attend any of these events as an ob4 server. 

5 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE

6 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH OR7 GANIZATION.— 

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

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

10 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve12 ments the Secretary of State has made to the 

13 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer 

14 status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, 

15 following any annual meetings of the World Health 

16 Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer 

17 status.’’. 

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

19 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply begin20 ning with the first report required under subsection 

21 (c) of section 1 of Public Law 108–235 that is sub22 mitted after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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