US senators Ted Cruz and Jeff Merkley on Thursday introduced a bill that seeks to facilitate Taiwan’s efforts to take part in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The bill, dubbed the draft “ensuring Taiwan aviation and safety act,” mandates that the US secretary of state regularly submit “an unclassified report” to the US Congress to detail the US government’s efforts to “ensure Taiwan’s meaningful participation in ICAO, including in ICAO triennial assembly sessions, conferences, technical working groups, meetings, activities and mechanisms.”
Under the bill, the US secretary of state would also be authorized to develop a strategy to secure Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the ICAO and instruct the US envoy to the UN agency to use their “voice and vote” to achieve that goal.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US envoy should also “seek to secure a vote at the next ICAO triennial assembly session on the question of Taiwan’s participation in that session,” the bill says.
The 41st edition of the ICAO triennial assembly started on Tuesday in Montreal. Taiwan was not invited.
Cruz said the ICAO cannot successfully pursue its mission to ensure aviation safety while excluding Taiwan.
“This exclusion, and the fact that it is the result of bowing to political pressure from the Chinese Communist Party, directly endangers ICAO’s credibility as a multilateral organization,” Cruz said in a news release.
Merkley said Taiwan has the fifth-largest airport in Asia and plays a major role in global aviation.
“Taiwan’s meaningful participation in ICAO will enable the organization to do its job better,” Merkley said. “The United States should use its voice and vote to support Taiwan’s inclusion in ICAO.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that China’s recent “acts of military provocations” in the seas and airspace around Taiwan had “gravely affected international air traffic.”
The ministry stressed the necessity for Taiwan to be included in the ICAO to ensure the safety of global civil aviation operations and called on the UN agency to allow for Taiwan’s participation.
The ministry thanked Latin American and Caribbean lawmakers in the Formosa Club for signing a letter urging the ICAO to allow Taiwan to meaningfully participate.
The ministry said that the letter was signed by 217 lawmakers from 16 countries, including Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.
The legislatures of Belize, Guatemala and Saint Lucia — diplomatic allies of Taiwan — unanimously backed the call for the country’s inclusion, the ministry said.
Taiwan is a critical air traffic hub connecting Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, and an indispensable part of the global system of air travel that should not have been excluded due to political considerations, the letter said.
By not allowing Taiwan to take part in the ICAO, the organization is denying Taiwan access to timely and comprehensive information, they said.
The lawmakers also condemned China’s air force and naval exercises around Taiwan in August, saying that the drills significantly disrupted global air traffic and trade.
The ICAO should act on its campaign of reconnecting the world by cooperating with Taiwan to make air travel safer, they said.
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS