HR0821 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0821 LRB097 20641 GRL 66515 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Republic of China (Taiwan) has achieved economic and social stability; in 2010, Taiwan was ranked as the United States' 9th-largest trading partner in the world; Taiwan is also the United States' 13th-largest export market and 9th largest source of imports, with U.S. exports to Taiwan in 2010 having increased by 43%; and

WHEREAS, In the last 2 decades, Taiwan has been praised as a beacon of democracy for Asia, having successfully completed its parliamentary elections and its 5th direct, popular presidential election on January 14, 2012; and

WHEREAS, Taiwan has taken great steps forward to enter the world arena as a trusted partner; for the last 3 years, Taiwan has participated as an observer in the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO); in 2012, Taiwan will celebrate its 20th anniversary of participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, of which the United States is a longtime and respected member; and

WHEREAS, Taiwan has been added by the United States government as a candidate for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, for which Taiwan is grateful to the United States, and, in particular, to the Illinois House of Representatives for its support in this regard; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has a strong economic and cultural relationship with Taiwan since establishing sister-state relations in 1992; in 2011, Illinois ranked 5th among U.S. states in the value of overall exports to Taiwan, which increased 47% last year and were worth almost $1.2 billion; these figures rose from $812 million in 2010, when Illinois exports to Taiwan ranked 6th among U.S. states; and

WHEREAS, Taiwan is the world's 6th-largest market for United States agricultural goods, with Taiwan having sent 26 procurement missions to the United States between 1978 and 2011; these missions have enhanced the mutually beneficial trade relations and permanent friendship between the 2 countries, while the Illinois economy has benefited from Taiwan's consistently large imports of Illinois agricultural products; in 2011, the State's agricultural exports to Taiwan, worth $739.24 million, comprised almost 62% of Illinois' total exports to Taiwan and increased 82% from the State's 2010 agricultural exports to Taiwan ($406.78 million); and

WHEREAS, Taiwan's continuing absence from international organizations dealing with climate change has impeded Taiwan's ability to respond to natural disasters, such as Typhoon Morakot in 2009, while the global initiative to combat climate change has been impaired by the lack of participation of Taiwan; similarly, Taiwan's absence from international organizations dealing with airline safety and security, major global concerns since 2001, has left a gap in the international aviation security system, as Taiwan is a key transport hub in the Asia-Pacific region; Taiwan has more than 1,000,000 flights passing through the Taipei Flight Information Region and one of the world's largest airports by cargo volume, Taoyuan International Airport; and

WHEREAS, The Taiwan government highly values its relations with the United States and continually seeks to demonstrate its willingness to contribute its resources and know-how to the international community, such as its swift delivery of humanitarian assistance to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake in that country; the aid was expedited by the United States, which generously aided Taiwan in rescue and recovery after Typhoon Morakot; Taiwan also seeks to contribute to peace, freedom, and security in the world as a responsible stakeholder and peaceable nation of 23 million citizens through the Republic of China's policies, such as "flexible diplomacy" in foreign affairs and its pragmatic approach to relations with the People's Republic of China, as demonstrated by the historic passage in 2010 and implementation in 2011 of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between Taipei and Beijing; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Republic of China (Taiwan) on its successful presidential and parliamentary elections and on the re-election to a second term of President Ma Ying-jeou; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we further congratulate Taiwan on the 20th anniversary of its participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to increase Taiwan's international space and contribution to the global community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm our support for the meaningful participation of Taiwan in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with observer status; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago.