[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2113 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2113
To require agencies to use the term ``Taiwan'' instead of ``Chinese
Taipei'', and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2025
Mr. Donalds (for himself, Mr. Collins, Mr. Tiffany, and Mr. Moore of
Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require agencies to use the term ``Taiwan'' instead of ``Chinese
Taipei'', 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 ``America Supports Taiwan Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds as follows:
(1) The United States Government has never officially
recognized the People's Republic of China's claim of
sovereignty over Taiwan.
(2) The People's Republic of China, led by the Chinese
Communist Party, seeks to control Taiwan through means of
persuasion and coercion, and potentially compellence.
(3) The People's Liberation Army seeks to have the
capability to invade Taiwan by 2027, the 100th anniversary of
the founding of the Chinese Communist Party's military, the
People's Liberation Army.
(4) The People's Republic of China refers to Taiwan as a
``region'' and to the President of Taiwan as ``the leader of
the Taiwan region'', consistent with its assertion that Taiwan
is a region of the People's Republic of China.
(5) Taiwan and mainland China are separated by a ``median
line'' in the Taiwan Strait, which acts as an unofficial
boundary that was generally respected from 1999, until
September 2020, when a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
stated, ``there is no so-called median line in the Strait'',
and People's Liberation Army aircraft and vessels have
repeatedly crossed the median line since then, as more than
1,400 PRC aircraft reportedly crossed the median line in 2024.
(6) An accounting, based on Taiwan Ministry of National
Defense reporting, of incursions into Taiwan's de facto Air
Defense Identification Zone by PRC military aircraft
illustrates a sharp increase over time, with approximately
3,075 incursions in 2024, up from approximately 390 in 2020,
illustrating a more confrontational posture toward Taiwan and
honing military capabilities required to conduct combat
operations near Taiwan.
(7) Many people of Taiwan see the ``Chinese Taipei''
nomenclature as a symbol of oppression from the People's
Republic of China, originally stemming from an effort to find a
way for both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China to
participate in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and the
1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.
(8) In Mandarin Chinese, Taiwan uses a version of ``Chinese
Taipei'' in which ``Chinese'' is the cultural term ``zhonghua''
and does not have sovereignty connotations.
(9) Comparatively, the Chinese-language translation of
``Chinese Taipei'' carries the connotation that Taiwan is
culturally Chinese, and thus the English term can be easily
misunderstood to connote PRC possession of Taipei, and by
extension, all of Taiwan.
(b) Purpose.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States must stand firm in the commitments it
made in the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.),
which declares 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'';
(2) the United States Government continues to support
Taiwan and enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense
capability as it withstands control-seeking persuasion and
coercion from an increasingly aggressive People's Republic of
China; and
(3) the United States Government disfavors the use of the
``Chinese Taipei'' nomenclature, and instead favors the use of
``Taiwan'' so as to avoid connotations of possession with the
``Chinese Taipei'' term in English and support resolution of
cross-Strait differences by peaceful means, free from coercion,
in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the
Strait.
SEC. 3. AGENCY REQUIREMENT TO USE ``TAIWAN''.
(a) In General.--The head of an agency may not use ``Chinese
Taipei'' and shall use ``Taiwan'', except--
(1) in historical context explaining the People's Republic
of China's attempt to control Taiwan through persuasion and
coercion; or
(2) to the extent that the head of the agency is working on
matters relating to Taiwan with an international organization
at which Taiwan is a participant under a different official
name.
(b) Requirement To Update Agency Websites.--Not later than 14 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency
shall ensure the website of the agency meets the requirements of this
section.
(c) Agency Defined.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that
term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
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