A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Endorsing Taiwan's participation as observer in the International Civil Aviation Organization and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

    WHEREAS, civil aviation plays a pivotal role in promoting cultural exchange, business, trade, and tourism; and

    WHEREAS, to develop international civil aviation in a safe and orderly manner is the supreme cause of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); and

    WHEREAS, Taiwan is the world's twentieth largest economy, eighteenth largest trading country, and a key air transport hub linking Northeast and Southeast Asia; and

    WHEREAS, over 174,000 international flights travel to and from Taiwan, with foreign passengers making around 3.8 million trips to the island every year, and over 35 million passengers, including 25.39 million passengers on international flights, arrived and departed from Taiwan's airports in 2008; and

    WHEREAS, without Taiwan's participation, international flight plans, regulations, and procedures

that the ICAO formulates will be incomplete and unsafe:

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-fifth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the 2010 Legislature endorses the proposition that Taiwan participate in the International Civil Aviation Organization as observer; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the 2010 Legislature is supportive of all efforts to grant Taiwan official observer status at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a collaborative partner of the United Sates on a wide range of public issues, Taiwan should be afforded the opportunity to participate in global efforts aimed at reducing and preventing natural disasters.