US representatives Young Kim and Al Green have proposed a bipartisan bill, the Taiwan non-discrimination act, calling for Taiwan’s membership in the IMF.
The bill calls for Taiwan’s participation in IMF activities, employment opportunities at the IMF for its citizens and for Taiwan to receive IMF assistance.
“We cannot allow the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to silence Taiwan’s voice and suppress Taiwan’s freedoms any longer,” Kim, a Republican from California, said in a news release issued on Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
‘KEY PLAYER’
“Taiwan has long been a key player in the global economy, and its return to the IMF would benefit all nations involved. This bipartisan measure underscores our commitment to Taiwan’s growth and to strengthening democratic values worldwide,” said Green, a Texas Democrat.
As part of the rationale for supporting Taiwan’s inclusion in the IMF, the bill cites Taiwan’s status as the world’s 21st-largest economy and the US’ 10th-largest trading partner in goods, as well as Taiwan’s participation in the WTO, Asian Development Bank and APEC forum, and its substantial foreign reserves.
Taiwan has been unjustly excluded from the IMF, as the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 states that “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,” the proposed bill says.
Furthermore, Taiwan maintained its IMF membership for nine years after the US formally recognized the People’s Republic of China and admitted it to the IMF in 1980.
Kosovo, also not a member of the UN, has been a member of the IMF and the World Bank since June 2009, the proposed bill says.
US SUPPORT
For the bill to become a law, it must pass a vote in the US House of Representatives, then the US Senate and finally be signed into law by US President Donald Trump.
This is not the first time the two representatives have proposed such a bill. In January last year, the House passed a similar proposal regarding Taiwan’s IMF participation.
Prior to that, Kim led a bill that called for the US secretary of state to develop a strategy to restore Taiwan’s observer status in the WHO and the World Health Assembly.
The IMF, which has 191 members, promotes global financial stability and economic growth by providing financial assistance, policy advice and economic surveillance to members.
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