To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1145 To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 18, 2021 Mrs. KIM of California (for herself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. PA- NETTA, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. BABIN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. WALTZ, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. BERA, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. JOHN- SON of South Dakota, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. CASE, Mr. BACON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. ROUZER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. TITUS, and Mr. CASTRO of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD 3 HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 5 ings: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1145 IH (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) is 1 a specialized agency of the United Nations, charged 2 with coordinating health efforts within the United 3 Nations system. The World Health Assembly 4 (WHA) is the decision-making body of the WHO, 5 which convenes annually in May to set the policies 6 and priorities of the organization. Statehood is not 7 a requirement for attendance at the WHA, and nu- 8 merous observers, including non-members and non- 9 governmental organizations, attended the most re- 10 cent virtual WHA in May 2020. 11 (2) Taiwan began seeking to participate in the 12 WHO as an observer in 1997. In 2009, with strong 13 support from successive United States Administra- 14 tions, Congress, and like-minded WHO Member 15 States, and during a period of improved Cross-Strait 16 relations, Taiwan received an invitation to attend 17 the WHA as an observer under the name ‘‘Chinese 18 Taipei’’. Taiwan received the same invitation each 19 year until 2016, when following the election of Presi- 20 dent Tsai-Ing Wen of the Democratic Progressive 21 Party, Taiwan’s engagement in the international 22 community began facing increased resistance from 23 the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s in- 24 vitation to the 2016 WHA was received late and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1145 IH cluded new language conditioning Taiwan’s partici- 1 pation on the PRC’s ‘‘one China principle’’. The 2 WHO did not invite Taiwan to attend the WHA as 3 an observer in 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2020. 4 (3) Taiwan remains a model contributor to 5 world health, having provided financial and technical 6 assistance to respond to numerous global health 7 challenges. Taiwan has invested over $6 billion in 8 international medical and humanitarian aid efforts 9 impacting over 80 countries since 1996. In 2014, 10 Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis by donating $1 11 million and providing 100,000 sets of personal pro- 12 tective equipment. Through the Global Cooperation 13 and Training Framework, the United States and 14 Taiwan have jointly conducted training programs for 15 experts to combat MERS, Dengue Fever, and Zika. 16 In 2020, after successfully containing the spread of 17 the novel coronavirus within its borders while up- 18 holding democratic principles, Taiwan generously do- 19 nated millions of pieces of personal protective equip- 20 ment and COVID-19 tests to countries in need. 21 These diseases know no borders, and Taiwan’s need- 22 less exclusion from global health cooperation in- 23 creases the dangers presented by global pandemics. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1145 IH (4) Taiwan’s international engagement has 1 faced increased resistance from the PRC. Taiwan 2 was not invited to the 2016 Assembly of the Inter- 3 national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite 4 participating as a guest at the organization’s prior 5 summit in 2013. Taiwan’s requests to participate in 6 the General Assembly of the International Criminal 7 Police Organization (INTERPOL) have also been 8 rejected. In May 2017, PRC delegates disrupted a 9 meeting of the Kimberley Process on conflict dia- 10 monds held in Perth, Australia, until delegates from 11 Taiwan were asked to leave. Since 2016, the Demo- 12 cratic Republic of Sa˜o Tome´ and Prı´ncipe, the Re- 13 public of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina 14 Faso, the Republic of El Salvador, the Solomon Is- 15 lands, and the Republic of Kiribati have terminated 16 longstanding diplomatic relationships with Taiwan 17 and granted diplomatic recognition to the PRC. 18 (5) Congress has established a policy of support 19 for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies 20 that address shared transnational challenges, par- 21 ticularly in the WHO. Congress passed H.R. 1794 22 in the 106th Congress, H.R. 428 in the 107th Con- 23 gress, and S. 2092 in the 108th Congress to direct 24 the Secretary of State to establish a strategy for, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1145 IH and to report annually to Congress on, efforts to ob- 1 tain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA. Con- 2 gress also passed H.R. 1151 in the 113th Congress, 3 directing the Secretary to report on a strategy to 4 gain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO Assem- 5 bly, and H.R. 1853 in the 114th Congress, directing 6 the Secretary to report on a strategy to gain ob- 7 server status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assem- 8 bly. However, since 2016 Taiwan has not received 9 an invitation to attend any of these events as an ob- 10 server. 11 (b) AUGMENTATION OF REPORT CONCERNING THE 12 PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH OR- 13 GANIZATION.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 1 15 of Public Law 108–235 (118 Stat. 656) is amended 16 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 17 ‘‘(3) An account of the changes and improve- 18 ments the Secretary of State has made to the 19 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer 20 status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, 21 following any annual meetings of the World Health 22 Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer 23 status.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1145 IH (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 1 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply begin- 2 ning with the first report required under subsection 3 (c) of section 1 of Public Law 108–235 that is sub- 4 mitted after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1145.IH H1145 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS