[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2962

      To advocate for Taiwan's inclusion in certain international 
                 organizations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2018

Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To advocate for Taiwan's inclusion in certain international 
                 organizations, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan International Participation 
Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 (Public Law 96-8) 
        states that it is the policy of the United States ``to preserve 
        and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, 
        cultural, and other relations between the people of the United 
        States and the people on Taiwan''.
            (2) The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 states that it is the 
        policy of the United States ``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 
        economic system, of the people on Taiwan''.
            (3) The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 states, ``Nothing in 
        this Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the 
        exclusion or expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in 
        any international financial institution or any other 
        international organization.''.
            (4) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, 
        declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in 
        appropriate international organizations.
            (5) Taiwan is a free, democratic, and prosperous nation of 
        23,000,000 people and an important contributor to peace and 
        stability around the world.
            (6) Taiwan currently maintains full diplomatic relations 
        with 19 nations around the world.
            (7) Taiwan is a full member of the World Trade Organization 
        (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and 
        the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
            (8) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, passed 
        on October 25, 1971, states that ``the representatives of the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China are the only 
        lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that 
        the People's Republic of China is one of the five permanent 
        members of the Security Council,'' and Taiwan was subsequently 
        expelled as a member of the United Nations and all United 
        Nations bodies.
            (9) The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, David Tawei 
        Lee, stated on September 11, 2017, ``It is important to 
        remember that, while it seated the People's Republic of China 
        (PRC) in the UN, this resolution did not address the issue of 
        representation of Taiwan and its people in the organization; 
        much less did it give the PRC the right to represent the people 
        of Taiwan.''.
            (10) According to the Department of State, ``[t]he United 
        States supports Taiwan's membership in international 
        organizations that do not require statehood as a condition of 
        membership and encourages Taiwan's meaningful participation in 
        international organizations where its membership is not 
        possible''.
            (11) According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the 
        People's Republic of China, ``Taiwan's participation is subject 
        to the terms of agreement or understanding reached between the 
        Chinese Government and the parties concerned which explicitly 
        prescribe that the People's Republic of China is a full member 
        as a sovereign state whereas Taiwan may participate in the 
        activities of those organizations only as a region of China 
        under the designation of Taipei, China (in ADB) or Chinese 
        Taipei (in APEC). This is only an ad hoc arrangement and cannot 
        constitute a `model' applicable to other inter-government 
        organizations or international gatherings.''.
            (12) Since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen as 
        President of Taiwan in 2016, the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China has intensified its efforts to exclude Taiwan 
        from international organizations.
            (13) Taiwan has participated as an observer in the World 
        Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World 
        Health Organization (WHO), from 2009 until 2017, when it did 
        not receive an invitation.
            (14) Taiwan has been an active contributor to global health 
        challenges, including by donating $1,000,000 and providing 
        100,000 sets of personal protective equipment to combat the 
        Ebola crisis in 2014. Taiwan's request to participate in the 
        2016 General Assembly of the International Criminal Police 
        Organization (INTERPOL) was rejected.
            (15) In May 2017, delegates from the People's Republic of 
        China disrupted a meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict 
        diamonds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from Taiwan 
        were asked to leave.
            (16) Public Law 106-137, Public Law 113-17, and Public Law 
        114-139 required the Secretary of State to submit a report to 
        Congress on efforts by the executive branch to support Taiwan's 
        participation in international organizations, in particular the 
        WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and 
        INTERPOL.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the United 
States--
            (1) to advocate, as appropriate--
                    (A) for Taiwan's membership in all international 
                organizations in which statehood is not a requirement 
                and in which the United States is also a participant; 
                and
                    (B) for Taiwan to be granted observer status in 
                other appropriate international organizations;
            (2) to instruct, as appropriate, representatives of the 
        United States Government in all organizations described in 
        paragraph (1) to use the voice and vote of the United States to 
        advocate for Taiwan's membership or observer status in such 
        organizations; and
            (3) for the President or the President's designees to 
        advocate, as appropriate, for Taiwan's membership or observer 
        status in all organizations described in paragraph (1) as part 
        of any relevant bilateral engagements between the United States 
        and the People's Republic of China, including leader summits 
        and the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue.
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