Full Text of SR0269 98th General Assembly
SR0269 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Republic of China (Taiwan) marked its | 3 | | centennial in 2011 and
is the 18th-largest trading economy in | 4 | | the world(as of 2012)
and has achieved economic and social | 5 | | stability; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In 2012, Taiwan ranked as the United States' | 7 | | 11th-largest
trading partner in the world and is the United | 8 | | States' 16th-largest
export market, with U.S. exports to Taiwan | 9 | | in 2012 worth U.S. $24.4 billion,
and is the United States' | 10 | | 11th-largest source of imports; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In the last 2 decades, Taiwan has been praised as | 12 | | a beacon of
democracy for Asia, having successfully completed | 13 | | its parliamentary
elections and its 5th direct, popular | 14 | | presidential election on January
14, 2012, electing to a second | 15 | | term, President Ma Ying-jeou, who was
inaugurated on May 20, | 16 | | 2012; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan has taken great steps forward to enter the | 18 | | world arena
as a trusted partner; for each year since 2009, | 19 | | Taiwan has participated
as an observer in the World Health | 20 | | Assembly of the World Health
Organization (WHO); and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Last fall the government of the United States |
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| 1 | | announced the
inclusion of Taiwan in the U.S. Visa Waiver | 2 | | Program; effective November
1, 2012, Taiwan became the 37th | 3 | | member to receive visa-free travel
privileges to the United | 4 | | States and only the 5th Asian country with
visa-free status | 5 | | (behind Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Brunei); it
is | 6 | | expected that more Taiwanese will come to the United States for | 7 | | business
and tourism, increasing spending of tourist dollars | 8 | | and facilitating
business, trade, and investment in the United | 9 | | States, thus contributing
to the U.S. and local economies and | 10 | | strengthening bilateral relations and
ties with the individual | 11 | | states, including Illinois; moreover, Taiwan is
grateful to the | 12 | | United States, and to the Illinois State legislators, for its | 13 | | support in this effort; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has a strong economic and | 15 | | cultural
relationship with Taiwan since establishing | 16 | | sister-state relations on August 27, 1992; in 2012, Illinois | 17 | | ranked 5th among U.S. states in the value of
overall exports to | 18 | | Taiwan, were worth
almost $952 million U.S.; the Illinois | 19 | | economy has benefited from Taiwan's consistently large imports | 20 | | of Illinois agricultural products, which in 2012 were worth | 21 | | $554 million U.S. and comprised more than 58% of Illinois' | 22 | | total exports to Taiwan; and | 23 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan is the world's 6th-largest market for | 24 | | United States
agricultural goods, with Taiwan having sent 26 |
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| 1 | | agricultural missions to
the United States between 1978 and | 2 | | 2011; these missions have enhanced
the mutually beneficial | 3 | | trade relations and permanent friendship between
the 2 | 4 | | countries, and promoted ties between Taiwan and Illinois, which
| 5 | | hosted the Taiwan soybean and corn delegation in 2011 in | 6 | | Springfield and
Rockford; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, International airline safety and security have | 8 | | been major global
concerns since 2001; Taiwan, a key transport | 9 | | hub in the Asia-Pacific
region, has more than one million | 10 | | flights per year passing through the Taipei
Flight Information | 11 | | Region and has one of the world's largest airports by
cargo | 12 | | volume, Taoyuan International Airport Taiwan; Taiwan seeks
| 13 | | meaningful participation with observer status in the | 14 | | International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), but has not | 15 | | been accorded it and is not a
member, leaving a gap in the | 16 | | aviation security and navigation system; Taiwan can be a | 17 | | valuable and constructive partner to the ICAO in the
global | 18 | | strategy to address airline safety and security based on | 19 | | effective
international cooperation, while Taiwan's | 20 | | participation in that
international organization can also | 21 | | narrow the security gap, reduce the
exposure to threats, and | 22 | | increase aviation safety; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, The Taiwan government continually seeks to | 24 | | demonstrate its
willingness to contribute its resources and |
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| 1 | | know-how to the international
community, such as its swift | 2 | | delivery of humanitarian assistance to Haiti following the 2010 | 3 | | earthquake in that country; the aid was expedited by
the United | 4 | | States, which generously aided Taiwan in rescue and recovery
| 5 | | after Typhoon Morakot; Taiwan also seeks to contribute to | 6 | | peace, freedom,
and security in the world as a responsible | 7 | | stakeholder and peaceable
nation of 23 million citizens through | 8 | | the Republic of China's policies,
such as "flexible diplomacy" | 9 | | in foreign affairs and its pragmatic approach
to relations with | 10 | | mainland China, as demonstrated by the historic passage
in 2010 | 11 | | and implementation in 2011 of the Economic Cooperation | 12 | | Framework
Agreement between Taipei and Beijing; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The Taiwan government highly values its relations | 14 | | with the United States and regards strengthening Taiwan-U.S. | 15 | | relations as a top policy priority and is gratified that the | 16 | | United States and Taiwan have resumed high-level talks under | 17 | | the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), | 18 | | an important platform to resolve trade and commerce issues; the | 19 | | bilateral regard for talk, which deputy U.S. trade | 20 | | representative hailed after the meeting completed on March 10, | 21 | | 2013, in Taipei as a "big success" and his counterpart in | 22 | | Taiwan said lay "a solid foundation for future collaboration in | 23 | | areas of mutual interest", as both sides are committed to | 24 | | working together to raise trade, investment, and the bilateral | 25 | | relationship "to the next level", which is expected to help |
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| 1 | | forge closer relations between the 2 countries and create a | 2 | | win-win environment for more Taiwanese trade and investment | 3 | | with individual states, including Illinois; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Taiwan seeks greater regional integration in the | 5 | | Asia-Pacific
region and promotion of bilateral investment and | 6 | | trade relations with the
United States, welcomes the | 7 | | opportunity presented by the United States'
"pivot to Asia" and | 8 | | announcement in 2011 (at the meeting of leaders at
the | 9 | | Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum) of the United States'
| 10 | | intent to not only join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), | 11 | | the proposed
21st century trade agreement between the U.S. and | 12 | | 8 other Asia-Pacific
Rim countries, but to expand TPP | 13 | | membership in the future to include other
countries, such as | 14 | | Taiwan; therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 16 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, we designate the date of | 17 | | August 27, 2013, as Taiwan Relations Day in the State of | 18 | | Illinois in recognition of the 21st anniversary of Illinois | 19 | | sister statehood with the Republic of China (Taiwan); and be it | 20 | | further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That we welcome resumption of U.S.-Taiwan trade | 22 | | talks, and express support for Taiwan's efforts to secure entry | 23 | | into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), to promote its |
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| 1 | | bilateral investment and trade relations with the United States | 2 | | and facilitate its economic and other ties with Illinois and | 3 | | the individual states; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That to increase Taiwan's international space | 5 | | and the degree to which Taiwan benefits from and contributes to | 6 | | global efforts to enhance international airline safety and | 7 | | security, we reaffirm our support for the meaningful | 8 | | participation of Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation | 9 | | Organization (ICAO) with observer status; and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to United
States Secretary of State John F. Kerry, | 12 | | ICAO Secretary Genera1 Raymond
Benjamin, and the Taipei | 13 | | Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago.
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