Four members of the US Congress on Thursday urged the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to invite Taiwan to participate as a guest at its 42nd assembly next month.
In a letter to ICAO Secretary-General Juan Carlos Salazar, the lawmakers also called on the organization to “clarify its opposition” to China’s unilateral decision to fully open a third extension of the M503 flight route in the Taiwan Strait.
The letter was signed by Republican US Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican US Representative John Moolenaar, who heads the House Select Committee on China, Democratic Senator Gary Peters and Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Photo: Reuters
China first declared the M503 route in 2015. Although situated in the Shanghai Flight Information Region, it runs close to the Taipei Flight Information Region, raising concerns over flight safety and Taiwan’s sovereignty.
China in February last year shifted the M503 flight route eastward, moving it closer to the median line of the Taiwan Strait despite protests from Taiwan.
Last month, Beijing unilaterally announced that it would also open the northwest-to-southeast W121 route connecting Dongshan in China’s Zhejiang province to the north-south M503 flight route.
“This action places civilian aircraft dangerously close to Taiwan-administered airspace and creates potential conflict points with east-west routes operated under the Taipei Flight Information Region, which handles over 1.85 million flights annually,” the lawmakers said.
The US legislators said that such unilateral changes flout international aviation procedures and contradict the ICAO’s own standards, which call for coordination and risk mitigation in shared airspace.
The matter is particularly troubling because Taiwan continues to be excluded from meaningful participation in the ICAO, despite being the world’s 11th-largest aviation market and a major transit hub in East Asia, they added.
Taiwan’s “absence from ICAO meetings and decisionmaking undermines global aviation safety,” they said.
“As an organization tasked with ensuring the safety, security, and efficiency of international civil aviation, ICAO must not remain silent,” they said, calling on the organization to publicly state that it does not support unilateral changes to international flight routes that impact regional safety.
“Additionally, we urge you to include Taiwan in the upcoming 42nd ICAO Assembly as a guest and technical participant,” they added.
The event is scheduled to be held at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada, from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3.
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