The government on Tuesday said it is seeking an invitation for Taiwan to attend this month’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assembly in Canada. Taiwan last took part in 2013, but every attempt since then has been blocked by Beijing. This exclusion, driven purely by politics, undermines global aviation safety and contradicts the ICAO’s stated mission.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said that the ICAO’s new strategic plan for next year to 2050 carries the theme “Safe Skies, Sustainable Future.” The plan emphasizes resilience, inclusiveness and cooperation. Yet Taiwan’s continued exclusion makes a mockery of that vision.
The Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) handled about 1.65 million flights last year. That number highlights Taiwan’s central role in regional aviation. Despite being denied ICAO membership, Taiwan has managed the Taipei FIR safely through informal cooperation with neighboring countries. However, reliance on ad hoc arrangements is no substitute for participation in formal mechanisms of coordination and arbitration.
The Taiwan Strait is one of the most volatile flashpoints in the world, and airspace in the region can change at a moment’s notice. Taiwan’s exclusion means its aviation authorities cannot directly engage with the ICAO when risks arise. This danger was demonstrated in February last year when China shifted the M503 flight route eastward, bringing it closer to the median line of the Taiwan Strait despite Taipei’s protests. That decision placed civilian flights at risk, as airspace near the median line is frequently used by Chinese and Taiwanese military aircraft.
Beijing escalated the problem in July, when it announced that it would activate the W121 route connecting Dongshan in China’s Zhejiang Province to the M503 route. Such unilateral moves prompted four members of the US Congress to write to ICAO Secretary-General Juan Carlos Salazar, urging him to clarify the organization’s opposition to these actions and to reconsider Taiwan’s exclusion. The bipartisan letter — signed by Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, Democratic Senator Gary Peters, Republican Representative John Moolenaar and Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi — said the changes violate international aviation procedures and contradict the ICAO’s own standards requiring coordination in shared airspace.
Other nations, including Canada, Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands, have also voiced concern about Beijing’s unilateral maneuvers. The international community understands that aviation safety should not be subject to political manipulation.
Taiwan has already experienced the consequences of being sidelined. In 2022, after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, Beijing staged massive military exercises around Taiwan, firing multiple ballistic missiles into nearby waters. The drills, announced with little warning, forced hundreds of flights to be canceled or rerouted. With no access to the ICAO, Taiwan’s aviation authorities had to coordinate rerouting through the Japanese and Philippine FIRs.
The logic behind Taiwan’s exclusion is not only flawed, but dangerous. Just as Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO harmed the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, its exclusion from the ICAO threatens global aviation. When Taiwanese in China first raised alarms about a new virus, Taiwan relayed the warnings to the WHO. Yet the WHO ignored them because Taiwan is not a member, helping the virus spread worldwide.
The UN was established after World War II to preserve peace and security, and to ensure tyranny would never again dominate the international order. Taiwan, under the Republic of China government, was a UN founding member. It is a dangerous absurdity that Taiwan is excluded at the demand of an authoritarian regime that has never governed it.
The world should not allow Beijing to endanger aviation. Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO is not just a matter of fairness or recognition, but an urgent necessity for the safety of global aviation.
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