IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 540 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Non-Discrimi3 nation Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) As enshrined in its Articles of Agreement, 

7 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is devoted 

8 to promoting international monetary cooperation, fa9 cilitating the expansion and balanced growth of 

10 international trade, encouraging exchange stability, 

11 and avoiding competitive exchange depreciation. 

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

13 world and the 10th largest goods trading partner of 

14 the United States. 

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

16 is a member of the World Trade Organization, the 

17 Asian Development Bank, and the Asia-Pacific Eco18 nomic Cooperation forum. 

19 (4) According to the January 2020 Report on 

20 Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of 

21 Major Trading Partners of the United States, pub22 lished by the Department of the Treasury, Taiwan 

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

24 more than major economies such as India, South 

25 Korea, and Brazil. 


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1 (5) According to section 4(d) of the Taiwan Re2 lations Act (Public Law 96–8), enacted on April 10, 

3 1979, ‘‘Nothing in this Act may be construed as a 

4 basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of 

5 Taiwan from continued membership in any inter6 national financial institution or any other inter7 national organization.’’. 

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

9 years following the recognition of the People’s Re10 public of China (PRC) by the United Nations, and 

11 16 Taiwan staff members at the Fund were allowed 

12 to continue their employment after the PRC was 

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

14 has noted in his Silent Revolution: The International 

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

16 seated, the United States Executive Director to the 

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

18 the United States Government for ‘‘some kind of as19 sociation between Taiwan and the Fund’’. 

20 (7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony be21 fore the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations re22 garding the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, then-As23 sistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific 

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

25 important role in transnational issues, we will supVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jan 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H540.RFS H540

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1 port its membership in organizations where state2 hood is not a prerequisite, and we will support op3 portunities for Taiwan’s voice to be heard in organi4 zations where its membership is not possible.’’. 

5 (8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed 

6 support for this policy, including in Public Laws 

7 107–10, 107–158, 108–28, 108–235, 113–17, and 

8 114–139, and the unanimous House and Senate 

9 passage of the Taiwan Allies International Protec10 tion and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 

11 2019. 

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

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

14 Department of State asserts: ‘‘The United States 

15 supports Taiwan’s membership in international orga16 nizations that do not require statehood as a condi17 tion of membership and encourages Taiwan’s mean18 ingful participation in international organizations 

19 where its membership is not possible.’’. 

20 (10) According to the Articles of Agreement of 

21 the IMF, ‘‘membership shall be open to other coun22 tries’’, subject to conditions prescribed by the Board 

23 of Governors of the IMF. 

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

25 Nonmembership in the International Monetary 


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1 Fund: A Study in International Law and Organiza2 tion’’, Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel and 

3 Director of the Legal Department of the IMF, elabo4 rated on the differences between the terms ‘‘coun5 tries’’ and ‘‘states’’, noting that ‘‘the word ‘country’ 

6 may have been adopted because of the absence of 

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

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

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

10 in the Articles emphasizes the breadth of the discre11 tion that the Fund may exercise in admitting coun12 tries to membership’’. According to Mr. Gold, ‘‘the 

13 desire to give the Fund flexibility in dealing with ap14 plications may explain not only the absence of any 

15 adjective that qualifies ‘countries’ but also the choice 

16 of that word itself’’. 

17 (12) In his IMF study, Mr. Gold further ob18 serves, ‘‘in the practice of the Fund the concepts of 

19 independence and sovereignty have been avoided on 

20 the whole as a mode of expressing a criterion for 

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

22 the Fund usually takes into account the recognition 

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

24 no rules or even informal understandings on the ex25 tent to which an applicant must have been recogVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jan 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H540.RFS H540

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1 nized by members or other international organiza2 tions before the Fund will regard it as eligible for 

3 membership.’’. In fact, when considering an applica4 tion for membership where the status of an appli5 cant may not be resolved, Mr. Gold writes ‘‘there 

6 have been occasions on which the Fund has made a 

7 finding before decisions had been taken by the 

8 United Nations or by most members or by members 

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

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

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

12 solely for its own purposes.’’. 

13 (13) Although not a member state of the 

14 United Nations, the Republic of Kosovo is a member 

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

16 both organizations on June 29, 2009. 

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

18 Antony Blinken issued a statement in support of 

19 Taiwan’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 

6 of 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 

23 the International Monetary Fund (in this section referred 

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

25 United States to vigorously support— 


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

2 the Fund, to the extent that admission is sought by 

3 Taiwan; 

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, 

11 does not generally restrict the employment of nation12 als of 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 

21 waiver will substantially promote the objective of securing 

22 the meaningful participation of Taiwan at each inter23 national financial institution (as defined in section 

24 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions 

25 Act). 


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1 (d) SUNSET.—This section shall have no force or ef2 fect 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 

5 a member of the Fund; or 

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

7 the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. TESTIMONY REQUIREMENT. 

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

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

11 International Financial Institutions Act to present testi12 mony, the Secretary shall include in the testimony a de13 scription of the efforts of the United States to support 

14 the greatest participation practicable by Taiwan at each 

15 international financial institution (as defined in section 

16 1701(c)(2) of such Act). 

Passed the House of Representatives January 12, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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