The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) exclusion of Taiwan at its 42nd assembly in Montreal is “bending to Beijing’s bullying,” and “makes a mockery of the ICAO’s stated mission,” Canadian lawmaker Michael Cooper yesterday told the House of Commons of Canada.
The assembly is set to convene from Tuesday next week until Oct. 3, with China to attend as a member state, though the organization declined to invite Taiwan.
“It’s time for ICAO to stop placating the Beijing dictatorship, put global aviation safety first and invite Taiwan to participate in the assembly,” Cooper said.
Photo: Screen grab from Taiwan in Canada’s Facebook page
Taiwan, as “Canada’s democratic ally,” is also “the 11th largest aviation market in the world and serves as a vital global hub,” the Conservative Party lawmaker said.
“Excluding one of the world’s largest and most responsible airspace managers creates a dangerous gap that undermines global aviation safety,” he added.
Meanwhile, Canadian lawmaker and Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group cochair Judy Sgro on Tuesday spoke to the house, saying that Taiwan, “which manages the busy and strategically vital Taipei Flight Information Region” should be invited to the ICAO.
“As tensions rise over the Taiwan Strait and concerns grow around China’s use of the M503 flight path, Taiwan’s participation is more critical than ever,” the Liberal Party lawmaker said.
Taiwan’s exclusion has “broader geopolitical implications, including for global trade and Canada’s economic interests in the Indo-Pacific,” she said.
It further “contradicts the spirit of the Chicago Convention,” Sgro said.
The agreement is also known as the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which establishes core principles permitting international transport by air, and led to the creation of the ICAO.
Sgro and Cooper are on Monday next week to host an international news conference in Ottawa to back Taiwan’s inclusion in the ICAO’s 42nd assembly.
Four bipartisan members of the US Congress last month also wrote a letter to the ICAO, urging it to invite Taiwan to participate as a guest in Montreal and “clarify its opinion” on China’s decision in July to open a third extension of the M503 flight route, which Beijing last year relocated closer to the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
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