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Calendar No. 61

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 243

Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World Health Organization. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. BOND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

APRIL 9, 2003

Reported by Mr. LUGAR, without amendment 

A BILL

Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World Health 

Organization.

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

3 SECTION 1. CONCERNING THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN 

4 IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 

5 (WHO). 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

7 findings: 
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1 (1) Good health is important to every citizen of 

2 the world and access to the highest standards of 

3 health information and services is necessary to im4 prove the public health. 

5 (2) Direct and unobstructed participation in 

6 international health cooperation forums and pro7 grams is beneficial for all parts of the world, espe8 cially with today’s greater potential for the cross9 border spread of various infectious diseases such as 

10 the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuber11 culosis, and malaria. 

12 (3) Taiwan’s population of 23,500,000 people is 

13 greater than that of three-fourths of the member 

14 states already in the World Health Organization 

15 (WHO). 

16 (4) Taiwan’s achievements in the field of health 

17 are substantial, including one of the highest life ex18 pectancy levels in Asia, maternal and infant mor19 tality rates comparable to those of western countries, 

20 the eradication of such infectious diseases as chol21 era, smallpox, and the plague, and the first to eradi22 cate polio and provide children with hepitis B vac23 cinations. 

24 (5) The United States Centers for Disease Con25 trol and Prevention and its Taiwan counterpart 
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1 agencies have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide 

2 range of public health issues. 

3 (6) In recent years Taiwan has expressed a will4 ingness to assist financially and technically in inter5 national aid and health activities supported by the 

6 WHO. 

7 (7) On January 14, 2001, an earthquake, reg8 istering between 7.6 and 7.9 on the Richter scale, 

9 struck El Salvador. In response, the Taiwanese gov10 ernment sent 2 rescue teams, consisting of 90 indi11 viduals specializing in firefighting, medicine, and 

12 civil engineering. The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign 

13 Affairs also donated $200,000 in relief aid to the 

14 Salvadoran Government. 

15 (8) The World Health Assembly has allowed ob16 servers to participate in the activities of the organi17 zation, including the Palestine Liberation Organiza18 tion in 1974, the Order of Malta, and the Holy See 

19 in the early 1950s. 

20 (9) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Pol21 icy Review, declared its intention to support Tai22 wan’s participation in appropriate international or23 ganizations. 

24 (10) Public Law 106–137 required the Sec25 retary of State to submit a report to the Congress 
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1 on efforts by the executive branch to support Tai2 wan’s participation in international organizations, in 

3 particular the WHO. 

4 (11) In light of all benefits that Taiwan’s par5 ticipation in the WHO can bring to the state of 

6 health not only in Taiwan, but also regionally and 

7 globally, Taiwan and its 23,500,000 people should 

8 have appropriate and meaningful participation in the 

9 WHO. 

10 (12) On May 11, 2001, President Bush stated 

11 in his letter to Senator Murkowski that the United 

12 States ‘‘should find opportunities for Taiwan’s voice 

13 to be heard in international organizations in order to 

14 make a contribution, even if membership is not pos15 sible’’, further stating that his Administration ‘‘has 

16 focused on finding concrete ways for Taiwan to ben17 efit and contribute to the WHO’’. 

18 (13) In his speech made in the World Medical 

19 Association on May 14, 2002, Secretary of Health 

20 and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced 

21 ‘‘America’s work for a healthy world cuts across po22 litical lines. That is why my government supports 

23 Taiwan’s efforts to gain observership status at the 

24 World Health Assembly. We know this is a con25 troversial issue, but we do not shrink from taking a 
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1 public stance on it. The people of Taiwan deserve 

2 the same level of public health as citizens of every 

3 nation on earth, and we support them in their ef4 forts to achieve it’’. 

5 (14) The Government of the Republic of China 

6 on Taiwan, in response to an appeal from the 

7 United Nations and the United States for resources 

8 to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, donated 

9 $1,000,000 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tu10 berculosis and Malaria in December 2002. 

11 (b) PLAN.—The Secretary of State is authorized—

12 (1) to initiate a United States plan to endorse 

13 and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual 

14 week-long summit of the World Health Assembly in 

15 May 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland; and 

16 (2) to instruct the United States delegation to 

17 Geneva to implement that plan. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 14 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

20 submit a report to Congress in unclassified form describ21 ing the action taken under subsection (b). 
Calendar No. 61

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 243

A BILL

Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World 

Health Organization. 

APRIL 9, 2003

Reported without amendment