HR0253LRB097 11428 KXB 53844 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Republic of China (Taiwan) has achieved
3economic and social stability, currently the world's 16th
4largest trading nation; in the last 2 decades it has been
5praised as a beacon of democracy for Asia; it has taken great
6steps forward to enter the world arena as a trusted partner;
7and for the last 2 years has participated as an observer in the
8World Health Assembly, for which Taiwan is grateful to the
9United States, and, in particular, the Illinois General
10Assembly for their longstanding support in this regard; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Illinois has a strong economic and cultural
12relationship with Taiwan since establishing sister-state
13relations in 1992; Illinois has ranked 6th in the last 2 years
14among U.S. states in the value of Illinois' overall exports to
15Taiwan; in 2010 U.S. exports to Taiwan increased by 43%; Taiwan
16sent 25 procurement missions to the United States between 1978
17and 2009, which have enhanced the mutually beneficial trade
18relations and permanent friendship between the 2 countries,
19while the Illinois economy has benefited from Taiwan's
20consistently large imports of Illinois agricultural products;
21in 2009, Taiwan was one of the world's largest importers of
22Illinois soy products and ranked as the 13th largest market for
23Illinois exports overall; and
 

 

 

HR0253- 2 -LRB097 11428 KXB 53844 r

1    WHEREAS, Taiwan's continuing absence from international
2organizations dealing with climate change has impeded Taiwan's
3ability to respond to natural disasters, such as Typhoon
4Morakot in 2009, while the global initiative to combat climate
5change has been impaired by the lack of participation of
6Taiwan; and, similarly, Taiwan's absence from international
7organizations dealing with airline safety and security, major
8global concerns since 2001, has left a gap in the international
9aviation security system, as Taiwan is a key transport hub in
10the Asia-Pacific region with more than 1,000,000 flights
11passing through the Taipei Flight Information Region and one of
12the world's largest airports by cargo volume, Taoyuan
13International Airport; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Taiwan government highly values its relations
15with the United States and continually seeks to demonstrate its
16willingness to contribute its resources and know-how to the
17international community, such as its swift delivery of
18humanitarian assistance to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake
19in that country, expedited by the United States, which has
20generously aided Taiwan in rescue and recovery after Typhoon
21Morakot; and to contribute to peace, freedom, and security in
22the world as a responsible stakeholder and peaceable nation of
2323,000,000 citizens through the Republic of China's policies,
24such as "flexible diplomacy" in foreign affairs and its
25pragmatic approach to relations with mainland China, as

 

 

HR0253- 3 -LRB097 11428 KXB 53844 r

1demonstrated by the historic passage in 2010 and implementation
2in 2011 of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between
3Taipei and Beijing; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Taiwan government has met a central
5requirement for inclusion in the United States Visa Waiver
6Program by achieving a low visa-rejection rate of less than 3%
7among Republic of China nationals applying for visas to the
8United States and has gained visa-waiver status with 97 other
9countries, including the European Union, the United Kingdom,
10and Canada, which, taken together, represents 94% of the most
11frequently visited countries by Republic of China citizens and
12is an increase of 44 countries of those granting Taiwan
13visa-waiver status in just 2 1/2 years, thus symbolizing the
14growing respect commanded by the ROC internationally;
15therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18we congratulate the Republic of China (Taiwan) on the
19centennial of its birth in 1911 as Asia's first Republic; and,
20to increase Taiwan's international space and contribution to
21the global community, we reaffirm our support for the
22meaningful participation of Taiwan in the United Nations
23Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the
24International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with observer

 

 

HR0253- 4 -LRB097 11428 KXB 53844 r

1status and urge the United States government to include Taiwan
2in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program as soon as possible; and be it
3further
 
4    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
5presented to United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
6Clinton, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, ICAO
7Secretary General Raymond Benjamin, and the Taipei Economic and
8Cultural Office in Chicago.