US lawmakers have called on their government to push harder for Taiwan’s inclusion in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), saying that the nation’s absence endangers millions of travelers who pass through its airspace each year.
A bipartisan group of 41 US lawmakers made the appeal in a letter initiated by US Representative Steve Chabot, cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, and addressed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (趙小蘭).
The letter calls on US President Donald Trump’s administration to advocate more strongly for Taiwan’s participation as an observer to the ICAO. The ICAO Assembly is holding its triennial week-long meeting at the organization’s headquarters in Montreal.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US
The appeal was similar to others previously made by the US Congress in support of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, which has generally been blocked by China.
In Tuesday’s letter, the lawmakers said that the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is the exclusive administrator of the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR), which last year served 1.75 million flights and 68.9 million passengers.
The Taipei FIR is also home to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the 11th-busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic and the fifth-busiest for international air freight traffic, it said.
“We believe excluding Taiwan from ICAO deliberations on topics ranging from aviation security to economic issues delays the implementation of ICAO regulations and prevents the seamless integration of the Taipei FIR into Asia’s civil aviation architecture,” the letter said.
Taiwan’s exclusion further “jeopardizes the proper formulation of changes to this architecture by failing to consider the needs and perspectives of Taiwan’s regulators,” it said.
The letter said Taiwan attended the ICAO Assembly’s 2013 session as a special guest of the ICAO Council president, but that, under pressure from China, no invitation was extended in 2016 or this year.
The lawmakers criticized Beijing for its “self-serving foreign policy” that “not only deprives the international community of Taiwan’s contributions, but also endangers the millions of travelers who pass through the Taipei FIR annually.”
Stressing that aviation safety must not be a political issue, the lawmakers urged Pompeo and Chao to prioritize the matter as the ICAO Assembly meets.
Echoing a G7 foreign minister communique issued in April, which supported Taiwan’s ICAO participation, the lawmakers said that they, too, support the substantive participation of all active members of the international aviation community in ICAO forums, adding that excluding some for political purposes compromised aviation safety and security.
“We believe that the United States and like-minded countries should work to make this aspiration a reality,” the letter said.
Taiwan’s representative office in the US thanked the US Congress for its long-standing bipartisan support for the nation’s participation in international organizations.
The ICAO is the UN body responsible for establishing worldwide aviation policies, with the ICAO Assembly serving as the organization’s decisionmaking body.
In 2013, when Taiwan attended the ICAO Assembly, it was represented by then-CAA director-general Shen Chi (沈啟) under a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration that was relatively friendly to Beijing.
That marked Taipei’s first representation at the ICAO assembly since losing its seat at the UN to Beijing in 1971.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from