The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bill that would urge the Bush administration to push for Taiwan's participation in the WHO, and Taiwan supporters expect the bill to be approved.
The measure was passed unanimously by the House International Relations Committee at the end of last month.
The bill, which was introduced in February by Ohio Representative Sherrod Brown, has picked up 92 co-sponsors.
It urges the Secretary of State to devise a plan to "endorse and obtain" Taiwan's status as an observer at the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly, which will be in Geneva next month.
It is not known when the Senate will take up the bill, but nearly a third of senators, including severalmembers of the Senate leadership, sent a letter to President George W. Bush in March urging him to "take appropriate steps" to secure Taiwan's participation.
The current stand off between the US and China over the downed US spy plane on Hainan Island is expected to improve chances for the WHO bill and other Taiwan measures, observers say.
"The longer the standoff on the EP-3 plane in Hainan lasts, the more likely bills related to Taiwan will be passed by both houses," said Chen Wen-yen (
RSS