The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) passed a resolution in support of Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at Summer Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, from July 18 to last Sunday.
Many secretaries of state and other US officials spoke in favor of Taiwan’s bid at the meeting, saying that “without Taiwan’s participation, international flight plans, regulations and procedures that the ICAO formulates will be incomplete and unsafe.”
“Taiwan’s request to participate in the ICAO is fully in line with the US government’s policy of supporting Taiwan’s meaningful participation in UN specialized agencies,” it said.
US President Barack Obama issued a statement on July 11 saying that the US fully supports Taiwan’s membership in international organizations in which statehood is not a requirement for membership and encourages Taiwan’s meaningful participation, as appropriate, in organizations where its membership is not possible.
He issued the statement after signing into law H.R. 1151, an act concerning Taiwan’s ICAO participation.
The NASS resolution will be sent to US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.
Executive officer Jeff Liu of Taiwan’s representative office in the US gave a presentation at the conference’s international relations committee meeting on Friday last week on Taiwan’s hopes for participating in the ICAO, in addition to speaking about the current state of US-Taiwan relations.
Taiwan has been soliciting international support for its participation as an observer in the ICAO Assembly to be held in Montreal in September.
The NASS annual summer conference was attended by about 200 public officials, including secretaries and deputy secretaries of state from 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories.
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