The government yesterday expressed the hope that China would extend goodwill to Taiwanese and allow the nation to participate in the 39th assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in September.
“It is very important and necessary that Taiwan participates in relevant organizations, especially since Taiwan provides air transport services for 58 million passengers and air traffic control services for more than 1.5 million flights each year,” Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.
Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO assembly would be beneficial for the organization and international aviation safety, he said, adding that the government would continue to do its best to attend the meeting.
However, China, which routinely blocks Taiwan’s participation in the international community, seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) on Thursday said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait cannot start talks on Taiwan’s participation in international organizations until a political foundation that embodies the “one China” principle has been established.
His remarks were interpreted as China rejecting Taiwan’s participation at the ICAO assembly this year.
Huang said Ma’s remarks “had been expected.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the government has filed an application with the secretariat of the ICAO to participate at the UN specialized agency’s assembly, to be held in Montreal from Sept. 27 to Oct. 7.
The ICAO assembly is the organization’s sovereign body and it meets once every three years to establish worldwide aviation policies for the following three years.
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