I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3793
Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World Health Organization. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2004
Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. ROHRABACHER, and Mr. 
WEXLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on International Relations 
A BILL 
Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World Health 
Organization.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. CONCERNING THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN 
IN 
THE 
WORLD 
HEALTH 
ORGANIZATION 
(WHO). 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Good health is important to every citizen of 
the world and access to the highest standards of
health information and services is necessary to im-
prove the public health. 
(2) Direct and unobstructed participation in 
international health cooperation forums and pro-
grams is beneficial for all parts of the world, espe-
cially with today’s greater potential for the cross-
border spread of various infectious diseases such as 
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuber-
culosis, and malaria. 
(3) Taiwan’s population of 23,500,000 people is 
greater than that of three-fourths of the member 
states already in the World Health Organization 
(WHO). 
(4) Taiwan’s achievements in the field of health 
are substantial, including one of the highest life ex-
pectancy levels in Asia, maternal and infant mor-
tality rates comparable to those of western countries, 
the eradication of such infectious diseases as chol-
era, smallpox, and the plague, and the first to eradi-
cate polio and provide children with hepatitis B vac-
cinations. 
(5) The United States Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention and its Taiwan counterpart 
agencies have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide 
range of public health issues.
(6) In recent years Taiwan has expressed a will-
ingness to assist financially and technically in inter-
national aid and health activities supported by the 
WHO. 
(7) On January 14, 2001, an earthquake, reg-
istering between 7.6 and 7.9 on the Richter scale, 
struck El Salvador. In response, the Taiwanese Gov-
ernment sent 2 rescue teams, consisting of 90 indi-
viduals specializing in firefighting, medicine, and 
civil engineering. The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs also donated $200,000 in relief aid to the 
Salvadoran Government. 
(8) The World Health Assembly has allowed ob-
servers to participate in the activities of the organi-
zation, including the Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion in 1974, the Order of Malta, and the Holy See 
in the early 1950s. 
(9) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Pol-
icy Review, declared its intention to support Tai-
wan’s participation in appropriate international or-
ganizations. 
(10) Public Law 106–137 required the Sec-
retary of State to submit a report to the Congress 
on efforts by the executive branch to support Tai-
wan’s participation in international organizations, in 
particular the WHO. 
(11) In light of all benefits that Taiwan’s par-
ticipation in the WHO can bring to the state of 
health not only in Taiwan, but also regionally and 
globally, Taiwan and its 23,500,000 people should 
have appropriate and meaningful participation in the 
WHO. 
(12) On May 11, 2001, President Bush stated 
in his letter to Senator Murkowski that the United 
States ‘‘should find opportunities for Taiwan’s voice 
to be heard in international organizations in order to 
make a contribution, even if membership is not pos-
sible’’, further stating that his Administration ‘‘has 
focused on finding concrete ways for Taiwan to ben-
efit and contribute to the WHO’’. 
(13) In his speech made in the World Medical 
Association on May 14, 2002, Secretary of Health 
and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced 
‘‘America’s work for a healthy world cuts across po-
litical lines. That is why my government supports 
Taiwan’s efforts to gain observership status at the 
World Health Assembly. We know this is a con-
troversial issue, but we do not shrink from taking a 
public stance on it. The people of Taiwan deserve
the same level of public health as citizens of every 
nation on earth, and we support them in their ef-
forts to achieve it’’. 
(14) The Government of the Republic of China 
on Taiwan, in response to an appeal from the 
United Nations and the United States for resources 
to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, donated 
$1,000,000 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tu-
berculosis and Malaria in December 2002. 
(15) In 2003, the outbreak of Severe Acute 
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused 73 deaths in 
Taiwan. 
(16) Avian influenza, commonly known as bird 
flu, has reemerged in Asia as some strain of the in-
fluenza has been reported by Cambodia, China, In-
donesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, Tai-
wan, Thailand, and Vietnam. 
(17) The SARS and avian influenza outbreaks 
illustrate that disease knows no boundaries and em-
phasize the importance of allowing all people access 
to the WHO. 
(18) As the pace of globalization quickens and 
the spread of infectious disease accelerates, it is crit-
ical that all people, including the people of Taiwan,
be given the opportunity to participate in inter-
national health organizations such as the WHO. 
(19) Secretary of Health and Human Services 
Tommy Thompson acknowledged during the 2003 
World Health Assembly meeting that ‘‘[t]he need for 
effective public health exists among all peoples’’. 
(b) PLAN.—The Secretary of State is authorized—
(1) to initiate a United States plan to endorse 
and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual 
week-long summit of the World Health Assembly in 
May 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland; 
(2) to instruct the United States delegation to 
Geneva to implement that plan; and 
(3) to introduce a resolution in support of ob-
server status for Taiwan at the summit of the World 
Health Assembly. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 14 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
submit a report to Congress in unclassified form describ-
ing the action taken under subsection (b).
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