The US Department of State on Thursday expressed its support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN specialized agency, as Taiwan seeks to take part at the ICAO assembly for a second time.
The triennial ICAO assembly is to be held from Tuesday to Oct. 7 at its headquarters in Montreal, Canada, but Taiwan so far has not received an invitation.
“The United States remains committed to supporting Taiwan’s meaningful participation in ICAO,” US East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau spokeswoman Grace Choi said when asked to comment on the issue.
“In keeping with our ‘one China’ policy, we support Taiwan’s membership of international organizations that do not require statehood,” Choi said. “In organizations that require statehood for membership [such as the ICAO], the United States supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation.”
She said aviation safety, security and efficiency are matters of global importance, and all interested stakeholders can play a positive role in ensuring that standards and regulations are met around the world.
The US remains committed to supporting Taiwan as it seeks to expand its already significant contributions to global challenges, Choi said.
In September 2013, Taiwan was invited to attend the previous ICAO assembly. The organization has 191 members and it is responsible for establishing worldwide aviation policy.
Participating using the name Chinese Taipei, Taiwan was represented by then-Civil Aeronautics Administration director-general Jean Shen (沈啟), who was a special guest of then-ICAO council president Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez.
Taiwan’s previous attendance at the assembly was in 1971 as the Republic of China, just months before its seat at the UN was taken by Beijing.
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