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H. 4788

STATUS INFORMATION

House Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. J. Moore, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bennett, Bernstein, Blackwell, Bradley, Brawley, Brittain, Bryant, Burns, Bustos, Calhoon, Carter, Caskey, Chumley, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Cogswell, Collins, B. Cox, W. Cox, Crawford, Dabney, Daning, Davis, Dillard, Elliott, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrest, Fry, Gagnon, Garvin, Gatch, Gilliam, Gilliard, Govan, Haddon, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson-Myers, Henegan, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hill, Hiott, Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hyde, Jefferson, J.E. Johnson, J.L. Johnson, K.O. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, King, Kirby, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Magnuson, Matthews, May, McCabe, McCravy, McDaniel, McGarry, McGinnis, McKnight, T. Moore, Morgan, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, Murray, B. Newton, W. Newton, Nutt, Oremus, Ott, Parks, Pendarvis, Pope, Rivers, Robinson, Rose, Rutherford, Sandifer, Simrill, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, M.M. Smith, Stavrinakis, Taylor, Tedder, Thayer, Thigpen, Trantham, Weeks, West, Wetmore, Wheeler, White, Whitmire, R. Williams, S. Williams, Willis, Wooten and Yow
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24605dg22.docx

Introduced in the House on January 13, 2022
Adopted by the House on January 13, 2022

Summary: Commending Taiwan-American relations

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   1/13/2022  House   Introduced and adopted

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VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/13/2022

TO SALUTE TAIWAN FOR ITS STRONG AND FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND WITH THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Whereas, Taiwan and the United States agree that both nations value the ideals of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law as a sacred trust; and

Whereas, Taiwan is the ninth export market of South Carolina, South Carolina's tenth largest import country, investing 786 million dollars in South Carolina and supporting an estimated 6,071 jobs in the State of South Carolina, while Taiwan is the United States' ninth-largest trading partner, and the United States is Taiwan's second-largest trading partner; Taiwan supports an estimated 330,000 jobs in the United States; and

Whereas, Taiwan ranks as the second-freest country in Asia, scoring 94 out of 100 and seventh in the world in Freedom House's latest report on global freedom; and

Whereas, Taiwan has contributed extensive resources to help the international community, including the United States, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic through the global donation of tens of millions of surgical and N95 masks, hundreds of thousands of isolation gowns, and tens of thousands of thermometers. Reciprocally, the United States has donated four million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Taiwan; and

Whereas, Taiwan has continued to experience ongoing threats from the authoritarian neighbor of China, which has intruded on Taiwan's security by flying in Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), disseminating disinformation and launching cyber-attacks, and repeatedly excluding Taiwan from the international system, as demonstrated through its denial of Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA); and

Whereas, bilateral relations between the United States and Taiwan have been strengthened in 2021: the State Department has loosened restrictions on official contacts with Taiwan; both sides resumed the eleventh Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting; the United States continues to approve its arms sales to Taiwan, exhibiting the great importance that the United States continues to place on Taiwan's defense capabilities; Taiwan and the United States, along with Japan, welcomed Australia as the fourth official partner of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF); and most recently, the United States included Taiwan in the 2021 Summit for Democracy; and

Whereas, South Carolina embraces all opportunities for an even firmer partnership on business, educational, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges between the citizens of both nations and to recover soundly together in the worldwide, post-pandemic, economic recovery efforts. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, salute Taiwan for its strong and friendly relations with the United States and the State of South Carolina.

Be it further resolved that the House of Representatives encourages the members of this body to join the Southeastern State Legislature Caucus (SESTC), calling like-minded states and international communities to support Taiwan's democracy, freedom, and the meaningful participation in international organizations and cooperation, such as the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, INTERPOL, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and CPTPP.

Be it further resolved that the House of Representatives supports the early start of negotiations on a US-Taiwan Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), as Taiwanese companies are looking for diverse and free markets in the United States instead of China.

Be it further resolved that the House of Representatives urges South Carolina to sign K-12 and higher education cooperation MOUs aiming at Mandarin-English language exchange programs in order to encourage its officials and members of the legislature to conduct more frequent exchanges with their Taiwanese counterparts.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Governor Henry McMaster, Secretary of State Mark Hammond, and Mr. Elliot Wang, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta.

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2022 at 11:20 AM