For immediate release - April 4, 2002

 At three o'clock on April 4, President Bush signed WHO Bill HR2739 into law at the White House.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of State to initiate a United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the World Health Assembly in May 2002" and asks the Secretary of State to submit a written report on the plan to Congress within 14 days after the Act's enactment.

FAPA President Ming-chi Wu, Ph.D. says: This is a great leap forward! We still have 5 weeks to go before the annual WHO summit in Geneva and that will provide us with a lot of time to inform all WHO members of the development and to urge them to support Taiwans participation in the upcoming WHO summit.

Additionally, Taiwan Caucus members will send a letter to President Bush on April 11 urging the President to explicitly speak out in favor of Taiwan's meaningful participation in the WHO. And finally, we also hope that House International Relations Committee chairman Henry Hyde can bring the matter up during his bi-weekly lunch with the President at the White House.