China’s military drills that disrupted air traffic around Taiwan last month is one of the reasons for the nation to be included in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), government officials said yesterday.
The ICAO is to hold its triennial assembly from Tuesday next week to Oct. 7 at its Montreal headquarters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Lily Hsu (徐儷文) told a news conference in Taipei.
The organization’s 193 member states, as well as a large number of international organizations, have been invited to attend, but Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation, Hsu said.
As this year’s assembly is themed “Reconnecting the World,” Hsu called on the ICAO to practice professional neutrality by inviting Taiwan to the gathering.
In this way, the organization can achieve its objectives of making global air transport safe, efficient and economic, instead of denying Taiwan access due to political reasons, Hsu added.
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said Taiwan is one of the busiest air transport hubs in the region.
The Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) provided navigation services to more than 1.85 million flights and saw the number of air travelers arriving, departing or transiting reach 72 million in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lin said.
Technical, professional and pragmatic considerations mean that Taiwan urgently needs to establish direct communication with the ICAO, and obtain the latest rules and regulations so that it can ensure the safety of air passengers and cargo, he said.
The importance of including Taiwan in the ICAO became evident when China launched unprecedented live-fire military drills in six maritime zones around Taiwan last month, Lin said.
From Aug. 4 to 7, the Chinese military conducted naval and aerial exercises, and fired multiple ballistic missiles into waters near Taiwan, following a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.
As the drills were announced at a short notice, hundreds of flights near Taiwan had to be canceled or rerouted, Lin said.
As Taiwan lacks direct communication channels with the ICAO, the nation’s aviation authorities could only contact Japanese and Philippine FIRs to reroute flights, he said.
Lin said he has written a letter to the ICAO Council president expressing the nation’s desire to join the upcoming assembly, but has received no response.
CAA Deputy Director-General Lin Jiunn-liang (林俊良) is to lead a delegation to Montreal to attend a number of side events to be held by Taiwan’s representative office in Canada to promote Taiwan’s inclusion in the ICAO, he added.
Lin Jiunn-liang is scheduled to meet officials from friendly countries and diplomatic allies to discuss aviation safety issues, he said.
Taiwan previously attended the assembly in 2013 as a guest of the ICAO Council president, the first time that the nation’s representatives had attended the gathering in 42 years, due to warming cross-strait relations under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
However, it was not invited to the gatherings in 2016 and 2019 after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party took office.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS