Full Text of HR0821 97th General Assembly
HR0821 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Republic of China (Taiwan) has achieved | 3 | | economic and social stability; in 2010, Taiwan was ranked as | 4 | | the United States' 9th-largest trading partner in the world; | 5 | | Taiwan is also the United States' 13th-largest export market | 6 | | and 9th largest source of imports, with U.S. exports to Taiwan | 7 | | in 2010 having increased by 43%; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In the last 2 decades, Taiwan has been praised as | 9 | | a beacon of democracy for Asia, having successfully completed | 10 | | its parliamentary elections and its 5th direct, popular | 11 | | presidential election on January 14, 2012; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan has taken great steps forward to enter the | 13 | | world arena as a trusted partner; for the last 3 years, Taiwan | 14 | | has participated as an observer in the World Health Assembly of | 15 | | the World Health Organization (WHO); in 2012, Taiwan will | 16 | | celebrate its 20th anniversary of participation in the | 17 | | Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, of which the United | 18 | | States is a longtime and respected member; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan has been added by the United States | 20 | | government as a candidate for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, for | 21 | | which Taiwan is grateful to the United States, and, in | 22 | | particular, to the Illinois House of Representatives for its |
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| 1 | | support in this regard; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has a strong economic and | 3 | | cultural relationship with Taiwan since establishing | 4 | | sister-state relations in 1992; in 2011, Illinois ranked 5th | 5 | | among U.S. states in the value of overall exports to Taiwan, | 6 | | which increased 47% last year and were worth almost $1.2 | 7 | | billion; these figures rose from $812 million in 2010, when | 8 | | Illinois exports to Taiwan ranked 6th among U.S. states; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan is the world's 6th-largest market for | 10 | | United States agricultural goods, with Taiwan having sent 26 | 11 | | procurement missions to the United States between 1978 and | 12 | | 2011; these missions have enhanced the mutually beneficial | 13 | | trade relations and permanent friendship between the 2 | 14 | | countries, while the Illinois economy has benefited from | 15 | | Taiwan's consistently large imports of Illinois agricultural | 16 | | products; in 2011, the State's agricultural exports to Taiwan, | 17 | | worth $739.24 million, comprised almost 62% of Illinois' total | 18 | | exports to Taiwan and increased 82% from the State's 2010 | 19 | | agricultural exports to Taiwan ($406.78 million); and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan's continuing absence from international | 21 | | organizations dealing with climate change has impeded Taiwan's | 22 | | ability to respond to natural disasters, such as Typhoon | 23 | | Morakot in 2009, while the global initiative to combat climate |
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| 1 | | change has been impaired by the lack of participation of | 2 | | Taiwan; similarly, Taiwan's absence from international | 3 | | organizations dealing with airline safety and security, major | 4 | | global concerns since 2001, has left a gap in the international | 5 | | aviation security system, as Taiwan is a key transport hub in | 6 | | the Asia-Pacific region; Taiwan has more than 1,000,000 flights | 7 | | passing through the Taipei Flight Information Region and one of | 8 | | the world's largest airports by cargo volume, Taoyuan | 9 | | International Airport; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The Taiwan government highly values its relations | 11 | | with the United States and continually seeks to demonstrate its | 12 | | willingness to contribute its resources and know-how to the | 13 | | international community, such as its swift delivery of | 14 | | humanitarian assistance to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake | 15 | | in that country; the aid was expedited by the United States, | 16 | | which generously aided Taiwan in rescue and recovery after | 17 | | Typhoon Morakot; Taiwan also seeks to contribute to peace, | 18 | | freedom, and security in the world as a responsible stakeholder | 19 | | and peaceable nation of 23 million citizens through the | 20 | | Republic of China's policies, such as "flexible diplomacy" in | 21 | | foreign affairs and its pragmatic approach to relations with | 22 | | the People's Republic of China, as demonstrated by the historic | 23 | | passage in 2010 and implementation in 2011 of the Economic | 24 | | Cooperation Framework Agreement between Taipei and Beijing; | 25 | | therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | we congratulate the Republic of China (Taiwan) on its | 4 | | successful presidential and parliamentary elections and on the | 5 | | re-election to a second term of President Ma Ying-jeou; and be | 6 | | it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That we further congratulate Taiwan on the 20th | 8 | | anniversary of its participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic | 9 | | Cooperation (APEC) forum to increase Taiwan's international | 10 | | space and contribution to the global community; and be it | 11 | | further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That we affirm our support for the meaningful | 13 | | participation of Taiwan in the United Nations Framework | 14 | | Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International | 15 | | Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with observer status; and be | 16 | | it further | 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | delivered to United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham | 19 | | Clinton, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, ICAO | 20 | | Secretary General Raymond Benjamin, and the Taipei Economic and | 21 | | Cultural Office in Chicago.
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