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JOINT RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE OF MAINE AND THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
WHEREAS, the United States and the Republic of China, known as Taiwan, share a most important relationship supported by our common values of freedom, democracy, rule of law and commitment to a free market economy; and
WHEREAS,  President Ma Ying-jeou has worked tirelessly to uphold democratic principles in Taiwan, ensure the prosperity of Taiwan's more than 23,000,000 people, promote Taiwan's international standing and further improve relations between the United States and Taiwan; and
WHEREAS,  Taiwan and the United States, and especially the State of Maine, share a historically close relationship, marked by tourism, strong bilateral trade, educational and cultural exchange and scientific and technological interests; and
WHEREAS,  Taiwan is a member of the United States Visa Waiver Program, which reflects the friendship, trust and cooperation shared between our 2 countries and makes travel between Taiwan and the United States for business and tourism even more convenient; and
WHEREAS,  the United States ranks as Taiwan's 3rd-largest trading partner; Taiwan was the 16th-largest trading partner of the United States in 2012; and bilateral trade in goods and services between the United States and Taiwan reached $85,000,000,000 in 2011; and
WHEREAS,  New England exported approximately $1,400,000,000 in goods to Taiwan, of which Maine exported approximately $15,500,000 in goods, mostly in machinery, transportation equipment and paper; and
WHEREAS,  negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement between Taiwan and the United States are an important step towards strengthening bilateral trade and entering into a free trade agreement between our countries, thereby increasing Maine's exports to Taiwan and creating greater bilateral investment and technical collaboration; and
WHEREAS,  President Barack H. Obama and the leaders of the 8 other Trans-Pacific Partnership countries announced the achievement of the broad outlines for a 21st-century agreement on November 12, 2011, in which Taiwan has expressed a keen interest to participate, in order to establish close links between economies, enhance competitiveness and benefit consumers; and
WHEREAS,  the Asia-Pacific region is the largest market in the world for United States exports and many of Maine's total exports went to markets in the Asia-Pacific region; the export of Maine goods supports an estimated 21,000 jobs; and 2010 data indicate that 1,347 companies exported goods from Maine; and
WHEREAS,  Taiwan is the 17th-largest trading economy in the world and is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which promotes free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region; and
WHEREAS,  the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the world's key instrument for responding to climate change, and a concerted global effort to combat the challenges posed by climate change requires that Taiwan also be included in the work of this convention, and Taiwan has expressed a keen interest to participate in the global effort to address climate change; and
WHEREAS,  it remains in the interest of the traveling public that Taiwan be included in the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization, since Taiwan is a key transport hub in the Asia-Pacific region; the Taipei Flight Information Region, under Taiwan's jurisdiction, covers an area of 176,000 square nautical miles with 1,350,000 controlled flights passing through annually; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Legislature now assembled in the First Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this opportunity to affirm the friendship between Maine and the Republic of China; and be it further
RESOLVED: That We support the signing of a United States-Taiwan bilateral investment agreement and a free trade agreement in order to further strengthen Maine-Taiwan trade relations, and We support Taiwan's participation in international organizations and agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization and the Trans-Pacific Partnership; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan and to the Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston.