SENATE RESOLUTION 38

(By Senators (Mr. President) Blair, Jeffries, Lindsay, Baldwin, Stollings, Rucker, and Phillips)

[Introduced February 22, 2022]

Reaffirming supporting the signing of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan), strengthening the sisterhood partnership between the State of West Virginia and Taiwan, and reaffirming support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation and contributions in international organizations.

Whereas, The Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United States have enjoyed a longstanding partnership and share the common values of freedom, democracy, and human rights. In 2021, Taiwan was ranked as the 2nd freest country in Asia by Freedom House and was ranked 6th among 178 world economies in terms of economic freedom by the Heritage Foundation, showcasing Taiwan as a beacon of democracy in East Asia. The West Virginia Legislature supports more democratic countries, such as Lithuania, to pursue closer and greater cooperation with Taiwan; and

Whereas, The State of West Virginia is proud of the sisterhood partnership it has enjoyed with Taiwan since August 4, 1980, marked by strong bilateral trade, investment, educational, and cultural exchanges. In 2022, the State of West Virginia celebrates the 42nd anniversary of the sisterhood partnership with Taiwan and looks forward to an even closer relationship between West Virginia and Taiwan in the future; and

Whereas, The United States and Taiwan have forged even stronger economic relations over the last four decades; with the United States now Taiwan’s 2nd largest trading partner and with Taiwan now the 8th largest trading partner of the United States. West Virginia welcomes all opportunities to enhance an even closer economic partnership and supports Taiwan’s efforts to secure the signing of a United States-Taiwan Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) to increase West Virginia exports to Taiwan; and

Whereas, In 2020, the trade volume between West Virginia and Taiwan amounted to nearly $90 million and Taiwan is our 3rd largest source of import and 7th largest export market in Asia, demonstrating that Taiwan is a remarkable trading partner of West Virginia. West Virginia looks forward to reopening its trade office in Taiwan to bring in more Taiwanese investment such as the $34 million project initiated by the Far Eastern New Century Corporation in 2018; and

Whereas, In December, 2020, the United States and Taiwan signed an (MOU) on International Education Cooperation, aiming at enhancing the bilateral cooperation on international education, particularly in the area of language education. West Virginia encourages American universities to relocate their Chinese language and cultural programs from China to Taiwan to promote a positive learning environment and enhance comprehensive Mandarin language education for American students; and

Whereas, Taiwan has proven to be a very valuable contributor in a broad range of global issues, and it is necessary for Taiwan to be granted meaningful participation in various intergovernmental organizations and mechanisms such as the World Health Organization (WHO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL); therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate:

That the Senate of West Virginia reaffirms supporting the signing of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan), strengthening the sisterhood partnership between the state of West Virginia and Taiwan, and reaffirming support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation and contributions in international organizations; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Honorable James C. Justice II, Governor of West Virginia, and Ms. Bi-khim Hsiao, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.