I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 540 

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 

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. 

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, 

9 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is devoted 

10 to promoting international monetary cooperation, faVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H540.IH H540

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1 cilitating the expansion and balanced growth of 

2 international trade, encouraging exchange stability, 

3 and avoiding competitive exchange depreciation. 

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

5 world and the 10th largest goods trading partner of 

6 the United States. 

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

8 is a member of the World Trade Organization, the 

9 Asian Development Bank, and the Asia-Pacific Eco10 nomic Cooperation forum. 

11 (4) According to the January 2020 Report on 

12 Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of 

13 Major Trading Partners of the United States, pub14 lished by the Department of the Treasury, Taiwan 

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

16 more than major economies such as India, South 

17 Korea, and Brazil. 

18 (5) According to section 4(d) of the Taiwan Re19 lations Act (Public Law 96–8), enacted on April 10, 

20 1979, ‘‘Nothing in this Act may be construed as a 

21 basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of 

22 Taiwan from continued membership in any inter23 national financial institution or any other inter24 national organization.’’. 


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

2 years following the recognition of the People’s Re3 public of China (PRC) by the United Nations, and 

4 16 Taiwan staff members at the Fund were allowed 

5 to continue their employment after the PRC was 

6 seated at the IMF in 1980. As James M. Boughton 

7 has noted in his Silent Revolution: The International 

8 Monetary Fund 1979–1989, even as the PRC was 

9 seated, the United States Executive Director to the 

10 IMF, Sam Y. Cross, expressed support on behalf of 

11 the United States Government for ‘‘some kind of as12 sociation between Taiwan and the Fund’’. 

13 (7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony be14 fore the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations re15 garding the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, then-As16 sistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific 

17 Affairs Winston Lord stated: ‘‘Recognizing Taiwan’s 

18 important role in transnational issues, we will sup19 port its membership in organizations where state20 hood is not a prerequisite, and we will support op21 portunities for Taiwan’s voice to be heard in organi22 zations where its membership is not possible.’’. 

23 (8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed 

24 support for this policy, including in Public Laws 

25 107–10, 107–158, 108–28, 108–235, 113–17, and 


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1 114–139, and the unanimous House and Senate 

2 passage of the Taiwan Allies International Protec3 tion and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 

4 2019. 

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

6 with Taiwan’’, published on August 31, 2018, the 

7 Department of State asserts: ‘‘The United States 

8 supports Taiwan’s membership in international orga9 nizations that do not require statehood as a condi10 tion of membership and encourages Taiwan’s mean11 ingful participation in international organizations 

12 where its membership is not possible.’’. 

13 (10) According to the Articles of Agreement of 

14 the IMF, ‘‘membership shall be open to other coun15 tries’’, subject to conditions prescribed by the Board 

16 of Governors of the IMF. 

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

18 Nonmembership in the International Monetary 

19 Fund: A Study in International Law and Organiza20 tion’’, Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel and 

21 Director of the Legal Department of the IMF, elabo22 rated on the differences between the terms ‘‘coun23 tries’’ and ‘‘states’’, noting that ‘‘the word ‘country’ 

24 may have been adopted because of the absence of 

25 agreement on the definition of a ‘state’ ’’ and, with 


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1 respect to the use of ‘‘countries’’ and applications 

2 for IMF membership, ‘‘the absence of any adjective 

3 in the Articles emphasizes the breadth of the discre4 tion that the Fund may exercise in admitting coun5 tries to membership’’. According to Mr. Gold, ‘‘the 

6 desire to give the Fund flexibility in dealing with ap7 plications may explain not only the absence of any 

8 adjective that qualifies ‘countries’ but also the choice 

9 of that word itself’’. 

10 (12) In his IMF study, Mr. Gold further ob11 serves, ‘‘in the practice of the Fund the concepts of 

12 independence and sovereignty have been avoided on 

13 the whole as a mode of expressing a criterion for 

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

15 the Fund usually takes into account the recognition 

16 or nonrecognition of an entity as a state, there are 

17 no rules or even informal understandings on the ex18 tent to which an applicant must have been recog19 nized by members or other international organiza20 tions before the Fund will regard it as eligible for 

21 membership.’’. In fact, when considering an applica22 tion for membership where the status of an appli23 cant may not be resolved, Mr. Gold writes ‘‘there 

24 have been occasions on which the Fund has made a 

25 finding before decisions had been taken by the 


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1 United Nations or by most members or by members 

2 with a majority of the total voting power.’’ Mr. Gold 

3 concludes, ‘‘the Fund makes its own findings on 

4 whether an applicant is a ‘country’, and makes them 

5 solely for its own purposes.’’. 

6 (13) Although not a member state of the 

7 United Nations, the Republic of Kosovo is a member 

8 of both the IMF and the World Bank, having joined 

9 both organizations on June 29, 2009. 

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

11 Antony Blinken issued a statement in support of 

12 Taiwan’s ‘‘robust, meaningful participation’’ in the 

13 United Nations system, which includes the IMF, the 

14 World Bank, and other specialized United Nations 

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

16 international community faces an unprecedented 

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

18 all stakeholders to help address these problems. This 

19 includes the 24 million people who live in Taiwan. 

20 Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system 

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

22 continued, ‘‘Taiwan’s exclusion undermines the im23 portant work of the UN and its related bodies, all 

24 of which stand to benefit greatly from its contribu25 tions.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

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

4 the Taiwanese economy highlight the importance of 

5 greater participation by Taiwan in the International 

6 Monetary Fund, given the purposes of the Fund ar7 ticulated in its Articles of Agreement; and 

8 (2) the experience of Taiwan in developing a vi9 brant and advanced economy under democratic gov10 ernance and the rule of law should inform the work 

11 of the international financial institutions, including 

12 through increased participation by Taiwan in the in13 stitutions. 

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

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

16 the International Monetary Fund (in this section referred 

17 to as the ‘‘Fund’’) shall use the voice and vote of the 

18 United States to vigorously support— 

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

20 the Fund; 

21 (2) participation by Taiwan in regular surveil22 lance activities of the Fund with respect to the eco23 nomic and financial policies of Taiwan, consistent 

24 with Article IV consultation procedures of the Fund; 

25 (3) employment opportunities for Taiwan na26 tionals, without regard to any consideration that, in 


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1 the determination of the United States Governor, 

2 does not generally restrict the employment of nation3 als of member countries of the Fund; and 

4 (4) the ability of Taiwan to receive appropriate 

5 technical assistance and training by the Fund. 

6 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary of the Treasury may 

7 waive any requirement of subsection (a) for 1 year at a 

8 time on reporting to Congress that providing the waiver 

9 will substantially promote the objective of securing the 

10 meaningful participation of Taiwan at each international 

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

12 the International Financial Institutions Act). 

13 (c) SUNSET.—This section shall have no force or ef14 fect on the earlier of— 

15 (1) the date of approval by the Board of Gov16 ernors of the Fund for the admission of Taiwan as 

17 a member of the Fund; or 

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

19 the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 5. TESTIMONY REQUIREMENT. 

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

22 of the Treasury is required by section 1705(b) of the 

23 International Financial Institutions Act to present testi24 mony, the Secretary shall include in the testimony a de25 scription of the efforts of the United States to support 


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1 the greatest participation practicable by Taiwan at each 

2 international financial institution (as defined in section 

3 1701(c)(2) of such Act). 

Æ 


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