Taiwan yesterday hosted a news conference with Canadian lawmakers in Ottawa, urging the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to include Taiwan in its general assembly, which opened today in Montreal.
It was Taiwan’s first time holding a news conference at Canada’s National Press Theatre.
The event had cross-party support from Canada’s legislature, cohosted by Liberal Member of Parliament and Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group cochair Judy Sgro and Conservative Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister for Democratic Reform Michael Cooper.
Photo: CNA
The two Canadian lawmakers said that the Taiwan Flight Information Region (FIR) is an inseparable part of global aviation safety.
Sgro said that Taiwan’s exclusion from the ICAO “endangers not only regional stability, but the safety and security of global air travel.”
Taiwan’s exclusion was “bending to Beijing’s bullying, Cooper said, adding that Taiwan is a “major player in global aviation,” as an international hub with “tens of millions of passengers and cargo” transiting through the nation.
As host of the 42nd ICAO Assembly, Canada should send a clear message to the ICAO that Taiwan’s participation is essential to global aviation safety, Cooper added.
Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) said that China’s military exercises in recent years have threatened regional air safety, disrupting international flight routes in the Taiwan FIR and putting passenger safety at risk.
Since August 2022, China has conducted at least four large-scale military exercises, none of which were announced seven days in advance as required by ICAO regulations, Tseng said.
“We must not allow political maneuvers to take precedence over aviation safety,” he said. “I urge Canada and all our friends around the world to stand with Taiwan and keep politics out of aviation safety.”
Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) Deputy Director-General Lin Jiunn-liang (林俊良) said that Taiwan’s exclusion from ICAO blocks access to crucial safety information, forcing the CAA to rely on incomplete sources and preventing real-time international coordination.
Only through Taiwan’s meaningful participation can the ICAO’s mission of “no one left behind” be truly realized, Lin said.
The news conference was broadcast live on Canada’s Cable Public Affairs Channel.
The channel also invited Lin for a separate interview explaining the importance of Taiwan’s FIR to Canadian travelers and global aviation safety.
The 42nd ICAO Assembly opened today and runs until Friday next week at ICAO headquarters in Montreal.
Taiwan’s ICAO action team has already traveled to Montreal, where it is to meet with delegations from various countries to explain the necessity of Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS