A crowdfunding campaign to buy full-page ads in the Washington Times and The Hill urging members of the US House of Representatives to cosponsor and support House Resolution No. 248 has met its US$19,235 goal in two days.
The campaign, launched on Tuesday by six Taiwanese living in the US, including Formosan Association for Public Affairs policy coordinator Dee Wu (吳迪), garnered contributions from 350 donors.
The proposed resolution — titled “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” — was introduced on March 21 in the lower house by US Representative Steve Chabot.
Photo courtesy of Dee Wu
In the summary of the GoFundMe campaign, the initiators said they wanted to do something for Taiwan even though they were in the US.
They said that they first selected the Washington Times because of the relatively low cost of placing an ad in the newspaper and because, as a conservative paper, it would boost their chances of the ad being seen by US President Donald Trump’s Republican administration.
After raising US$5,000 on Tuesday for a full-page ad in the Washington Times, they extended the crowdfunding campaign to raise an additional US$14,235 for a full-page ad in The Hill.
Although its circulation is not large, The Hill is found in every US congressional office and would increase the ad’s chances of being seen by Democratic representatives, the campaign starters said, adding that they hope to garner bipartisan support for the resolution.
Wu, who is the son of Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), said he was surprised that the campaign, which they promoted through Facebook and online bulletin board Professional Technology Temple (PTT), was able to raise nearly US$20,000 in two days.
He thanked the campaign supporters and said he hoped the ad would encourage more discussion and generate greater visibility for Taiwan in the international community.
The ad, which would include the names of donors who contributed more than US$100, is expected to appear in the two newspapers on Wednesday next week — the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act.
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