II 

Calendar No. 100 

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, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. 

MCSALLY, Mr. COONS, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. 

GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 3, 2019 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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•S 249 RS

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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•S 249 RS

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 

12 $6,000,000,000 in international medical and human13 itarian aid efforts impacting over 80 countries since 

14 1996. In 2014, Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis 

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

16 of personal protective equipment. Through the Glob17 al Cooperation and Training Framework, the United 

18 States and Taiwan have jointly conducted training 

19 programs for experts to combat MERS, Dengue 

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

21 and Taiwan’s needless exclusion from global health 

22 cooperation increases the dangers presented by glob23 al pandemics. 

24 (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has 

25 faced increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan 


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•S 249 RS

1 was not invited to the 2016 Assembly of the Inter2 national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite 

3 participating as a guest at the organization’s prior 

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

5 the General Assembly of the International Criminal 

6 Police Organization (INTERPOL) have also been 

7 rejected. In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a 

8 meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict dia9 monds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from 

10 Taiwan were asked to leave. Since 2016, the Demo11 cratic Republic of S ̃ao Tom ́e and Pr ́ıncipe, the Re12 public of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina 

13 Faso, and the Republic of El Salvador have termi14 nated longstanding diplomatic relationships with 

15 Taiwan and granted diplomatic recognition to the 

16 PRC. 

17 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 

18 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 

19 that address shared transnational challenges, par20 ticularly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 

21 in the 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Con22 gress, and S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct 

23 the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for, 

24 and to report annually to Congress on, efforts to ob25 tain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA. ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S249.RS S249

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•S 249 RS

1 gress also passed H.R. 1151 in the 113th Congress, 

2 directing the Secretary to report on a strategy to 

3 gain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO Assem4 bly, and H.R. 1853 in the 114th Congress, directing 

5 the Secretary to report on a strategy to gain ob6 server status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assem7 bly. However, since 2016 Taiwan has not received 

8 an invitation to attend any of these events as an ob9 server. 

10 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE

11 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH OR12 GANIZATION.— 

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

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

15 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve17 ments the Secretary of State has made to the 

18 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer 

19 status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, 

20 following any annual meetings of the World Health 

21 Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer 

22 status.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

24 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply begin25 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. 

3 SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD 

4 HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 

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

6 (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) is a 

7 specialized agency of the United Nations, charged 

8 with coordinating health efforts within the United 

9 Nations system. The World Health Assembly (WHA) 

10 is the decision-making body of the WHO, which con11 venes annually in May to set the policies and prior12 ities of the organization. Statehood is not a require13 ment for attendance at the WHA, and numerous ob14 servers, including non-members and non-govern15 mental organizations, attended the most recent WHA 

16 in May 2018. 

17 (2) Taiwan began seeking to participate in the 

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

19 support from successive United States Administra20 tions, Congress, and like-minded WHO Member 

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

22 relations, Taiwan received an invitation to attend the 

23 WHA as an observer under the name ‘‘Chinese Tai24 pei’’. Taiwan received the same invitation each year 

25 until 2016, when following the election of President 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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•S 249 RS

1 Tsai-Ing Wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, 

2 Taiwan’s engagement in the international community 

3 began facing increased resistance from the People’s 

4 Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s invitation to the 

5 2016 WHA was received late and included new lan6 guage conditioning Taiwan’s participation on the 

7 PRC’s ‘‘one China principle’’. In 2017 and 2018, 

8 Taiwan did not receive an invitation to the WHA. 

9 (3) Taiwan remains a model contributor to 

10 world health, having provided financial and technical 

11 assistance to respond to numerous global health chal12 lenges. Taiwan has invested over $6,000,000,000 in 

13 international medical and humanitarian aid efforts 

14 impacting over 80 countries since 1996. In 2014, Tai15 wan responded to the Ebola crisis by donating 

16 $1,000,000 and providing 100,000 sets of personal 

17 protective equipment. Through the Global Cooperation 

18 and Training Framework, the United States and Tai19 wan have jointly conducted training programs for ex20 perts to combat MERS, Dengue Fever, and Zika. 

21 These diseases know no borders, and Taiwan’s need22 less exclusion from global health cooperation increases 

23 the dangers presented by global pandemics. 

24 (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has faced 

25 increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan was not 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 249 RS

1 invited to the 2016 Assembly of the International 

2 Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite partici3 pating as a guest at the organization’s prior summit 

4 in 2013. Taiwan’s requests to participate in the Gen5 eral Assembly of the International Criminal Police 

6 Organization (INTERPOL) have also been rejected. 

7 In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a meeting of 

8 the Kimberley Process on conflict diamonds held in 

9 Perth, Australia, until delegates from Taiwan were 

10 asked to leave. Since 2016, the Democratic Republic 

11 of Sa ̃o Tome ́ and Prı ́ncipe, the Republic of Panama, 

12 the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, and the Re13 public of El Salvador have terminated longstanding 

14 diplomatic relationships with Taiwan and granted 

15 diplomatic recognition to the PRC. 

16 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 

17 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 

18 that address shared transnational challenges, particu19 larly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 in the 

20 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Congress, and 

21 S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct the Secretary 

22 of State to establish a strategy for, and to report an23 nually to Congress on, efforts to obtain observer status 

24 for Taiwan at the WHA. Congress also passed H.R. 

25 1151 in the 113th Congress, directing the Secretary to 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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•S 249 RS

1 report on a strategy to gain observer status for Tai2 wan at the ICAO Assembly, and H.R. 1853 in the 

3 114th Congress, directing the Secretary to report on 

4 a strategy to gain observer status for Taiwan at the 

5 INTERPOL Assembly. However, since 2016 Taiwan 

6 has not received an invitation to attend any of these 

7 events as an observer. 

8 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE

9 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGA10 NIZATION.— 

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

12 Public Law 108–235 (118 Stat. 656) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve15 ments the Secretary of State has made to the United 

16 States plan to endorse and obtain observer status for 

17 Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, following any 

18 annual meetings of the World Health Assembly at 

19 which Taiwan did not obtain observer status.’’. 

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply beginning 

22 with the first report required under subsection (c) of 

23 section 1 of Public Law 108–235 that is submitted 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 2. BRIEFING ON UNITED STATES STRATEGY REGARD2 ING TAIWAN’S INTERNATIONAL RECOGNI3 TION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days there6 after for three years, the Secretary of State shall provide 

7 to the appropriate congressional committees a briefing on 

8 actions taken by the United States to reaffirm and strength9 en Taiwan’s official and unofficial diplomatic relation10 ships. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The briefing required by subsection 

12 (a) shall include the following elements: 

13 (1) A description of the actions taken by the 

14 United States commencing May 20, 2016, to consult 

15 with governments around the world, including the 

16 governments that maintain official diplomatic rela17 tions with Taiwan, with the purpose of inducing 

18 those governments to maintain official diplomatic re19 lations with Taiwan or otherwise strengthen unoffi20 cial relations with Taiwan. 

21 (2) An enumeration of specific countries of con22 cern, if any, and a description of the actions taken, 

23 or actions anticipated, by those governments, com24 mencing May 20, 2016, to alter the formal diplomatic 

25 ties with Taiwan or to otherwise downgrade official 

26 or unofficial relations. 


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1 (3) A plan of action to engage with the govern2 ments of the countries identified in paragraphs (1) 

3 and (2) and increase cooperation with respect to Tai4 wan. 

5 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—In 

6 this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit7 tees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

11 House of Representatives. 

12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 

13 THE ASIA REASSURANCE INITIATIVE ACT. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that the full and timely im15 plementation of section 209 of the Asia Reassurance Initia16 tive Act (Public Law 115–409), which reiterates long17 standing bipartisan United States policy, is critical to 

18 demonstrate United States support for Taiwan. 


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Calendar No. 100 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 249 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of State to develop a stratposes. World Health Organization, and for other pur- egy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the 

JUNE 3, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS