IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 248 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
One-China Policy does not commit it to the People’s Republic of China’s 
One-China Principle, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 21, 2019 
Mr. CHABOT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States One-China Policy does not commit 
it to the People’s Republic of China’s One-China Prin-
ciple, and for other purposes. 
Whereas officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 
routinely state the PRC’s One-China Principle as, ‘‘There 
is only one China in the world. The Government of the 
People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government 
representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an in-
alienable part of China’s territory.’’ ; 
Whereas the People’s Republic of China actively seeks to as-
sert its One-China Principle over any other position on 
Taiwan’s status, including over the United States One- 
China Policy, by waging a global campaign to persuade 
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•HRES 248 IH 
or force governments, international organizations, and 
private corporations to refer to Taiwan as a part of 
China; 
Whereas since Taiwan voters’ election of President Tsai-Ing 
Wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, the PRC has 
dramatically increased its efforts to isolate Taiwan from 
participation in the international community; 
Whereas the PRC has actively sought to exclude Taiwan from 
participation at the World Health Organization and other 
international organizations since President Tsai’s elec-
tion; 
Whereas the United Nations has routinely and erroneously 
interpreted United Nations General Assembly Resolution 
2758 (1971) by referring to Taiwan as ‘‘Taiwan Province 
of China’’, presuming resolution of Taiwan’s status; 
Whereas, in 2016, the Director-General of the World Health 
Organization (WHO) invited Taiwan to attend the an-
nual World Health Assembly as an observer on the basis 
of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, 
which she interpreted as reflecting the PRC’s One-China 
Principle; 
Whereas the WHO, the World Bank, and other international 
organizations continue to refer to Taiwan as ‘‘Taiwan, 
China’’; 
Whereas, since 2016, the Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe, 
Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, and El 
Salvador chose to recognize the PRC’s One-China Prin-
ciple after switching diplomatic relations from Taipei to 
Beijing; 
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•HRES 248 IH 
Whereas the PRC continues to seek to coerce private compa-
nies around the world to refer to Taiwan as a part of 
China; 
Whereas the PRC has insisted on acceptance of its One- 
China Principle being a precondition to engagement with 
Taiwan on resolution of their differences; 
Whereas in a speech on January 2, 2019, marking the anni-
versary of the People’s Republic of China’s 1979 ‘‘Mes-
sage to Compatriots in Taiwan’’, PRC President Xi 
Jinping stated, ‘‘The development process of cross-Strait 
relations has proved: No one and no forces can change 
the historical and legal facts that Taiwan is a part of 
China and two sides of the Strait belong to one China!’’; 
Whereas President Xi also stated that ‘‘The longstanding po-
litical differences between the two sides of the Strait are 
the major causes that prevent cross-Strait relations from 
proceeding steadily. This should not be passed down gen-
eration after generation.’’, thereby implying a deadline 
for unification of Taiwan with the PRC; 
Whereas President Xi further asserted, ‘‘We make no prom-
ise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option 
of taking all necessary means . . . [against] ‘Taiwan 
independence’ separatists’’; 
Whereas President Xi also held out a ‘‘one country, two sys-
tems’’ model for Taiwan’s adoption and promised that 
under such an arrangement, ‘‘the social system and life 
styles of Taiwan compatriots will be fully respected after 
the peaceful unification, and the private property, reli-
gious beliefs, and legitimate rights and interests of Tai-
wan compatriots will be fully guaranteed’’; 
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•HRES 248 IH 
Whereas over 75 percent of the people of Taiwan do not sup-
port a ‘‘one country, two systems’’ model; 
Whereas Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen stated in response 
to President Xi’s speech that ‘‘Taiwan absolutely will not 
accept ‘one country, two systems’ . . .’’; 
Whereas Taiwan has transitioned into a fully functioning de-
mocracy since 1996, when the island held its first direct 
Presidential election; 
Whereas the PRC’s persistent and increasing authoritarian-
ism and Taiwan’s consolidation of its democracy place 
the PRC and Taiwan on divergent paths and make unifi-
cation less likely; 
Whereas the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for this 
state of affairs as it has prevented the people of mainland 
China from developing a representative democracy while 
the Government of Taiwan has allowed the people of Tai-
wan to develop a flourishing democracy; 
Whereas an overwhelming majority of the people of Taiwan 
favor the status quo in the Taiwan Strait in which Tai-
wan is not part of the PRC; 
Whereas the United States One-China Policy is based on full 
implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act and on joint 
communique´s negotiated with the PRC in 1972, 1978, 
and 1982, with a focus on peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s 
status; 
Whereas, consequently, the United States One-China Policy 
is not the PRC’s One-China Principle; 
Whereas in the Three Joint Communique´s, the United States 
only acknowledged, without endorsing, the PRC’s claim 
that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China; 
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•HRES 248 IH 
Whereas, on April 10, 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act (Pub-
lic Law 96–8) was enacted into law; 
Whereas pursuant to the Taiwan Relations Act, ‘‘It is the 
policy of the United States— 
‘‘(1) to preserve and promote extensive, close, and 
friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between 
the people of the United States and the people on Tai-
wan, as well as the people on the China mainland and all 
other peoples of the Western Pacific area; 
‘‘(2) to declare that peace and stability in the area 
are in the political, security, and economic interests of 
the United States, and are matters of international con-
cern; 
‘‘(3) to make clear that the United States decision 
to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Repub-
lic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of 
Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means; 
‘‘(4) to consider any effort to determine the future 
of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by 
boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security 
of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the 
United States; 
‘‘(5) to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive 
character; and 
‘‘(6) to maintain the capacity of the United States 
to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion 
that would jeopardize the security, or the social or eco-
nomic system, of the people on Taiwan;’’; 
Whereas, in 2018, the Taiwan Travel Act (Public Law 115– 
135) was enacted into law, and its passage expressed the 
sense of Congress that ‘‘the United States Government 
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should encourage visits between officials from the United 
States and Taiwan at all levels’’; 
Whereas pursuant to the Taiwan Travel Act, ‘‘it should be 
the policy of the United States to— 
‘‘(1) allow officials at all levels of the United States 
Government, including Cabinet-level national security of-
ficials, general officers, and other executive branch offi-
cials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese coun-
terparts; [and] 
‘‘(2) allow high-level officials of Taiwan to enter the 
United States, under conditions which demonstrate ap-
propriate respect for the dignity of such officials, and to 
meet with officials of the United States, including offi-
cials from the Department of State and the Department 
of Defense and other Cabinet agencies’’; 
Whereas implementation of the Taiwan Travel Act is not a 
violation of United States policy and would ‘‘preserve and 
promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cul-
tural, and other relations between the people of the 
United States and the people on Taiwan’’, as called for 
by the Taiwan Relations Act; 
Whereas it is in the United States national interest to see to 
it that resolution of the status of Taiwan is peaceful and 
respectful of Taiwan’s thriving democracy as well as that 
until such a peaceful resolution is achieved, the status 
quo in the Taiwan Strait in which Taiwan exists as a 
self-governing democracy is maintained; and 
Whereas the PRC’s One-China Principle does not reflect the 
objective state of affairs that the Taiwan Government 
represents a self-governing democracy of 23.6 million 
people: Now, therefore, be it 
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•HRES 248 IH 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) it encourages both sides of the Taiwan 
Strait to carry out constructive dialogue without pre-
conditions; 
(2) it encourages visits between officials from 
the United States and Taiwan at all levels; 
(3) other countries and international organiza-
tions should refrain from acquiescing to the PRC’s 
One-China Principle; 
(4) private companies should rebuff efforts by 
the PRC to enforce its One-China Principle and that 
such companies that do business in the United 
States should report such efforts to the Secretary of 
State; and 
(5) the United States should counter the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China’s One-China Principle cam-
paign by adopting the following policy toward Tai-
wan: 
(A) The United States recognizes the ob-
jective reality that the Taiwan Government le-
gitimately represents a democracy of 23.6 mil-
lion people. 
(B) The United States will seek to ensure 
any resolution of the future of Taiwan is under-
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taken peacefully and with the active assent of 
the people of Taiwan, pursuant to United 
States policy as adopted in the Taiwan Rela-
tions Act and the political, security, and eco-
nomic interests of the United States described 
therein. 
Æ 
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