US President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law H.R. 1151 — an act concerning participation of Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) — and announced the US government’s full support for Taiwan’s participation in the organization.
While signing the act into law, Obama also issued a statement saying that Washington fully supports Taiwan becoming part of international organizations where statehood is not a requirement for membership and encourages the nation’s meaningful participation — where appropriate — in organizations of which it cannot be a member.
The US administration has publicly supported Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO and will continue to do so, the statement said.
“Consistent with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs, my Administration shall construe the Act to be consistent with the ‘one China’ policy of the United States, which remains unchanged, and shall determine the measures best suited to advance the overall goal of Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO,” Obama said in the statement.
The US president said that some sections of the act contain impermissibly mandatory language purporting to direct the US Secretary of State to undertake certain diplomatic initiatives and to report to the US Congress on the progress of those initiatives.
“Consistent with longstanding constitutional practice, my Administration will interpret and implement these sections in a manner that does not interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy and to protect the confidentiality of diplomatic communications,” Obama said in the statement.
The US House of Representatives and the US Senate each passed resolutions supporting Taiwan’s ICAO bid earlier this month. As their versions were the same, the two chambers moved quickly to pass the bill.
US Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who initiated the senatorial resolution, said that the signing into law of the act marks a step forward in Taiwan’s pursuit of ICAO participation. Menendez added that he believes Taiwan will contribute greatly to the aviation organization and its bid should not be turned down.
US Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who introduced the legislation, has previously said Taiwan’s exclusion from the ICAO is extremely disadvantageous to the millions of passengers flying between Taiwan and the US annually.
The number of people traveling between the two countries is expected to increase significantly after Taiwanese nationals were granted visa-free entry to the US last year.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) yesterday expressed the Republic of China government’s gratitude to Obama for singing the act into law, describing it as a positive development.
Congress finalizing the legislation and Obama signing it into law showed that the US’ administrative, legislative and local governments all support Taiwan’s ICAO bid, Kao added.
Kao said the ICAO is scheduled to hold a meeting in Montreal, Canada, in September and the ministry is devising a strategy for it.
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and
RSS