Sherman: 'I'm proud to author HR 186: Texas and Taiwan Sister-State Resolution"

The Texas House of Representatives is taking steps to strengthen the relationship between the State of Texas and the Republic of Taiwan, with the introduction of House Resolution 186: Texas and Taiwan Sister-State Resolution.

Taiwan is an island in the western Pacific Ocean that lies roughly 100 miles off the coast of southeastern China. A self-governing jurisdiction founded nearly 70 years ago by Chinese anti-communists, it refers to itself as the Republic of China. The relationship between Taiwan and Texas has been strong and goes back many years, including trade and investment relationships. The sister-state relationship goes back to 1988, according to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Houston. 

HR 186, authored by Rep. Carl O. Sherman, expresses support for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Taiwan, support for the country’s participation in the International Criminal Police Organization, the World Health Assembly and other organizations, expresses support for a Texas Trade and Investment Office in Taiwan and celebrates the 33rd anniversary of the sister-state relationship between the State of Texas and Taiwan.

“I'm proud to author HR 186 Texas and Taiwan Sister-State Resolution, expressing support for the strengthening of the partnership between the U.S. and Taiwan and for the expansion of Taiwan's role on the global stage,” Sherman wrote in a May 11 tweet. “Even closer than the US-Taiwan relationship, Texas and Taiwan have held a sister-state relationship since 1988. The economic ties that Texas has to Taiwan directly translates to billions of dollars in economic activity.”

Recently, the U.S. issued guidelines to help U.S. officials and Taiwanese officials to meet more freely and improve the relationships between Taiwan and the United States. The announcement came on April 9.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that the goal of this guidance is to “encourage U.S. government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship.”

The State Department announcement comes at a time of raised tensions over Taiwan, which China claims as its own. On April 9, the White House said it was keeping a close watch on increased Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and called Beijing’s recent actions potentially destabilizing.