Canadian Conservative Party lawmakers on Sunday challenged the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over its exclusion of Taiwan.
Canadian Member of Parliament Michael Cooper reiterated in a Tweet that Taiwan is a sovereign state and challenged the ICAO’s characterization of the nation as a “province of China.”
“#ICAO this characterization is wrong. #Taiwan is NOT a province of China. TAIWAN is TAIWAN. Democratic & sovereign,” Cooper wrote.
Photo: Reuters
In a session of parliament on Jan. 29, Cooper called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to explicitly state the government’s position on Taiwan’s inclusion in international discussions about preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Trudeau responded by saying: “We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international multilateral forums. Especially when its presence provides important contributions to the global public good.”
Canadian Member of Parliament James Bezan tweeted: “Has the International Civil Aviation Organization been taken over by the Communist Party of China [CCP]? Hey @icao — get your facts straight! Taiwan is a thriving independent democracy.”
The ICAO, whose secretary-general is Liu Fang (柳芳) of China, has been blocking the Twitter accounts of anyone who expresses support for Taiwan and on Thursday referred to Taiwan as “[China’s] Taiwan Province” when tweeting about the spread of COVID-19.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the ICAO an “accomplice” of China’s pressure campaign against Taiwan and asked it to correct its references to the nation.
It has also called on nations friendly to Taiwan to help it communicate with the ICAO, which has its headquarters in Montreal.
Canadian politicians began ramping up challenges to the ICAO’s stance on Taiwan after the organization continued to misrepresent the nation, despite Trudeau’s confirmation of his government’s support.
Canadian Member of Parliament Peter Kent in a tweet responded to Bezan’s question on whether China was influencing the ICAO.
“Short answer is yes. CCP has implanted officials who block legit Taiwan engagement in international aviation safety ... in the same way they have in other international fora,” Kent wrote.
Writing in French, Canadian Member of Parliament Steven Blaney tweeted: “The ICAO should recognize Canada for what it is, an autonomous entity, and not a province of China!”
Canadian Member of Parliament Pierre Paul-Hus tweeted: “Taiwan is Taiwan. Taipei FIR [flight information region] is controlled by Taiwan, which is a full-fledged democratic and sovereign country. Simple and clear.”
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
RSS