The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged the Chinese government to demonstrate goodwill toward Taiwan’s application to attend this year’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, which it said would be filed under an “appropriate name.”
In a news release, the council said the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has submitted a letter of intent via the Ministry of Transportation and Communications — after the council and ministry exchanged opinions on the matter — to attend the assembly, which is to be held from Sept. 27 through Oct. 7 in Montreal, Canada.
“With global aviation safety and the safety of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in mind, the administration will apply for the nation’s attendance at this year’s ICAO assembly under an appropriate name and is willing to abide by the organization’s regulations,” the council said.
The government plans to seek support from all of the ICAO’s members and engage in negotiations with Beijing on the matter, the council said, adding that it hopes China would show goodwill toward Taiwanese.
The council said it would do its utmost to accommodate the needs of the CAA and provide assistance in its dealings with Beijing.
“Hopefully, with goodwill on both sides of the strait, we will be able to participate once again at this year’s ICAO assembly,” the council said.
After a proposal by Beijing, Taipei was invited to attend the 38th ICAO Assembly in 2013 as a “guest.”
However, the WHO’s unprecedented citation of the “one China” principle in a last-minute invitation to Taiwan for this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting in May sparked speculations that Taiwan’s hopes of joining the ICAO meeting next month could be thwarted.
The council said it welcomes peaceful and stable development of cross-strait ties, reiterating President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) call for both sides to put aside the baggage of history and engage in amicable interactions for the sake of people’s welfare.
“On the basis of mutual respect and seeking common ground, while reserving differences, both sides should endeavor to work out a new direction [for cross-strait relations] and a new way of doing things,” the council said.
The CAA said in a statement that Taiwan’s participation in the annual assembly and its activities is “extremely necessary” and “absolutely legitimate,” given the fact that air traffic controllers in Taiwan guided 1.53 million aircraft accessing the Taipei Flight Information Region last year and watched over the lives of 58 million passengers.
“We are seeking the support of other ICAO members and believe that [Taiwan’s participation] can be resolved through cross-strait negotiations. It is our sincere hope that China can show its goodwill toward Taiwanese,” the CAA said, adding that it would apply to attend the assembly under the “proper status” and was willing to adhere to the ICAO’s rules.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS