IB 

Union Calendar No. 237 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 540 

[Report No. 118–293] 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue more equitable treatment 

of Taiwan at the international financial institutions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mrs. KIM of California (for herself and Mr. GREEN of Texas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

DECEMBER 1, 2023 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LAWLER, Ms. LEE of Nevada, and Ms. DE LA CRUZ

DECEMBER 1, 2023 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 26, 2023] 


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•HR 540 RH

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue more 

equitable treatment of Taiwan at the international financial institutions, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 540 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Non-Discrimi5 nation Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) As enshrined in its Articles of Agreement, the 

9 International Monetary Fund (IMF) is devoted to 

10 promoting international monetary cooperation, facili11 tating the expansion and balanced growth of inter12 national trade, encouraging exchange stability, and 

13 avoiding competitive exchange depreciation. 

14 (2) Taiwan is the 21st largest economy in the 

15 world and the 10th largest goods trading partner of 

16 the United States. 

17 (3) Although Taiwan is not an IMF member, it 

18 is a member of the World Trade Organization, the 

19 Asian Development Bank, and the Asia-Pacific Eco20 nomic Cooperation forum. 

21 (4) According to the January 2020 Report on 

22 Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of 

23 Major Trading Partners of the United States, pub24 lished by the Department of the Treasury, Taiwan 

25 held $471,900,000,000 in foreign exchange reserves, 


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•HR 540 RH

1 more than major economies such as India, South 

2 Korea, and Brazil. 

3 (5) According to section 4(d) of the Taiwan Re4 lations Act (Public Law 96–8), enacted on April 10, 

5 1979, ‘‘Nothing in this Act may be construed as a 

6 basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of Tai7 wan from continued membership in any international 

8 financial institution or any other international orga9 nization.’’. 

10 (6) Taiwan held membership in the IMF for 9 

11 years following the recognition of the People’s Repub12 lic of China (PRC) by the United Nations, and 16 

13 Taiwan staff members at the Fund were allowed to 

14 continue their employment after the PRC was seated 

15 at the IMF in 1980. As James M. Boughton has noted 

16 in his Silent Revolution: The International Monetary 

17 Fund 1979–1989, even as the PRC was seated, the 

18 United States Executive Director to the IMF, Sam Y. 

19 Cross, expressed support on behalf of the United 

20 States Government for ‘‘some kind of association be21 tween Taiwan and the Fund’’. 

22 (7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony before 

23 the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations regarding 

24 the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, then-Assistant Sec25 retary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs 


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1 Winston Lord stated: ‘‘Recognizing Taiwan’s impor2 tant role in transnational issues, we will support its 

3 membership in organizations where statehood is not a 

4 prerequisite, and we will support opportunities for 

5 Taiwan’s voice to be heard in organizations where its 

6 membership is not possible.’’. 

7 (8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed sup8 port for this policy, including in Public Laws 107– 

9 10, 107–158, 108–28, 108–235, 113–17, and 114–139, 

10 and the unanimous House and Senate passage of the 

11 Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhance12 ment Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019. 

13 (9) In its fact sheet, entitled ‘‘U.S. Relations 

14 with Taiwan’’, published on August 31, 2018, the De15 partment of State asserts: ‘‘The United States sup16 ports Taiwan’s membership in international organi17 zations that do not require statehood as a condition 

18 of membership and encourages Taiwan’s meaningful 

19 participation in international organizations where its 

20 membership is not possible.’’. 

21 (10) According to the Articles of Agreement of 

22 the IMF, ‘‘membership shall be open to other coun23 tries’’, subject to conditions prescribed by the Board 

24 of Governors of the IMF. 


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1 (11) In the IMF publication ‘‘Membership and 

2 Nonmembership in the International Monetary Fund: 

3 A Study in International Law and Organization’’, 

4 Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel and Director 

5 of the Legal Department of the IMF, elaborated on the 

6 differences between the terms ‘‘countries’’ and 

7 ‘‘states’’, noting that ‘‘the word ‘country’ may have 

8 been adopted because of the absence of agreement on 

9 the definition of a ‘state’ ’’ and, with respect to the use 

10 of ‘‘countries’’ and applications for IMF membership, 

11 ‘‘the absence of any adjective in the Articles empha12 sizes the breadth of the discretion that the Fund may 

13 exercise in admitting countries to membership’’. Ac14 cording to Mr. Gold, ‘‘the desire to give the Fund 

15 flexibility in dealing with applications may explain 

16 not only the absence of any adjective that qualifies 

17 ‘countries’ but also the choice of that word itself’’. 

18 (12) In his IMF study, Mr. Gold further ob19 serves, ‘‘in the practice of the Fund the concepts of 

20 independence and sovereignty have been avoided on 

21 the whole as a mode of expressing a criterion for 

22 membership in the Fund’’. He continues, ‘‘Although 

23 the Fund usually takes into account the recognition 

24 or nonrecognition of an entity as a state, there are no 

25 rules or even informal understandings on the extent 


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1 to which an applicant must have been recognized by 

2 members or other international organizations before 

3 the Fund will regard it as eligible for membership.’’. 

4 In fact, when considering an application for member5 ship where the status of an applicant may not be re6 solved, Mr. Gold writes ‘‘there have been occasions on 

7 which the Fund has made a finding before decisions 

8 had been taken by the United Nations or by most 

9 members or by members with a majority of the total 

10 voting power.’’ Mr. Gold concludes, ‘‘the Fund makes 

11 its own findings on whether an applicant is a ‘coun12 try’, and makes them solely for its own purposes.’’. 

13 (13) Although not a member state of the United 

14 Nations, the Republic of Kosovo is a member of both 

15 the IMF and the World Bank, having joined both or16 ganizations on June 29, 2009. 

17 (14) On October 26, 2021, Secretary of State 

18 Antony Blinken issued a statement in support of Tai19 wan’s ‘‘robust, meaningful participation’’ in the 

20 United Nations system, which includes the IMF, the 

21 World Bank, and other specialized United Nations 

22 agencies. Secretary of State Blinken noted, ‘‘As the 

23 international community faces an unprecedented 

24 number of complex and global issues, it is critical for 

25 all stakeholders to help address these problems. This 


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1 includes the 24 million people who live in Taiwan. 

2 Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system 

3 is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one.’’. He 

4 continued, ‘‘Taiwan’s exclusion undermines the im5 portant work of the UN and its related bodies, all of 

6 which stand to benefit greatly from its contribu7 tions.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

9 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

10 (1) the size, significance, and connectedness of 

11 the Taiwanese economy highlight the importance of 

12 greater participation by Taiwan in the International 

13 Monetary Fund, given the purposes of the Fund ar14 ticulated in its Articles of Agreement; and 

15 (2) the experience of Taiwan in developing a vi16 brant and advanced economy under democratic gov17 ernance and the rule of law should inform the work 

18 of the international financial institutions, including 

19 through increased participation by Taiwan in the in20 stitutions. 

21 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN ADMISSION TO THE IMF. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Governor of the 

23 International Monetary Fund (in this section referred to 

24 as the ‘‘Fund’’) shall use the voice and vote of the United 

25 States to vigorously support— 


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1 (1) the admission of Taiwan as a member of the 

2 Fund, to the extent that admission is sought by Tai3 wan; 

4 (2) participation by Taiwan in regular surveil5 lance activities of the Fund with respect to the eco6 nomic and financial policies of Taiwan, consistent 

7 with Article IV consultation procedures of the Fund; 

8 (3) employment opportunities for Taiwan na9 tionals, without regard to any consideration that, in 

10 the determination of the United States Governor, does 

11 not generally restrict the employment of nationals of 

12 member countries of the Fund; and 

13 (4) the ability of Taiwan to receive appropriate 

14 technical assistance and training by the Fund. 

15 (b) UNITED STATES POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

16 United States not to discourage or otherwise deter Taiwan 

17 from seeking admission as a member of the Fund. 

18 (c) WAIVER.—The Secretary of the Treasury may 

19 waive any requirement of subsection (a) for up to 1 year 

20 at a time on reporting to Congress that providing the waiv21 er will substantially promote the objective of securing the 

22 meaningful participation of Taiwan at each international 

23 financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the 

24 International Financial Institutions Act). 


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1 (d) SUNSET.—This section shall have no force or effect 

2 on the earlier of— 

3 (1) the date of approval by the Board of Gov4 ernors of the Fund for the admission of Taiwan as a 

5 member of the Fund; or 

6 (2) the date that is 10 years after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. TESTIMONY REQUIREMENT. 

9 In each of the next 7 years in which the Secretary of 

10 the Treasury is required by section 1705(b) of the Inter11 national Financial Institutions Act to present testimony, 

12 the Secretary shall include in the testimony a description 

13 of the efforts of the United States to support the greatest 

14 participation practicable by Taiwan at each international 

15 financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of 

16 such Act). 


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Union Calendar No. 237 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 540 

[Report No. 118–293] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue 

poses. national financial institutions, and for other purmore equitable treatment of Taiwan at the interDECEMBER 1, 2023 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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