support on behalf of the United States Government for some kind of association between Taiwan and the Fund . (7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, then-Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Winston Lord stated: Recognizing Taiwan’s important role in transnational issues, we will support its membership in organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite, and we will support opportunities for Taiwan’s voice to be heard in organizations where its membership is not possible. . (8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed support for this policy, including in Public Laws 107–10, 107–158, 108–28, 108–235, 113–17, and 114–139, and the unanimous House and Senate passage of the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019. (9) In its fact sheet, entitled U.S. Relations with Taiwan , published on August 31, 2018, the Department of State asserts: The United States supports Taiwan’s membership in international organizations that do not require statehood as a condition of membership and encourages Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations where its membership is not possible. . (10) According to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF, membership shall be open to other countries , subject to conditions prescribed by the Board of Governors of the IMF. (11) In the IMF publication Membership and Nonmembership in the International Monetary Fund: A Study in International Law and Organization , Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department of the IMF, elaborated on the differences between the terms countries and states , noting that the word country may have been adopted because of the absence of agreement on the definition of a state and, with respect to the use of countries and applications for IMF membership, the absence of any adjective in the Articles emphasizes the breadth of the discretion that the Fund may exercise