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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS