The US and 10 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies spoke in favor of Taiwan’s efforts to join the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), at its recent triennial assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today.
The 10 allies, along with the US, advocated for Taiwan's inclusion in the ICAO, a specialized agency of the UN that develops policies and standards for international civil aviation to ensure safe and efficient air transportation, the ministry said.
It is "essential that all international aviation stakeholders, particularly Taiwan, are meaningfully included in ICAO's technical activities. There is no room for politics on this question," US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in his address at the assembly on Sept. 23, the ministry said.
Photo: Reuters
"This is about safety and security of the global system that we all enjoy, and of which Taiwan is an active part," Duffy was quoted as saying on the opening day of the ICAO’s 42nd assembly at its headquarters in Montreal, Canada.
High-level officials from 10 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies — Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Eswatini, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize and Paraguay — also called for Taiwan's inclusion in the ICAO, the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, the Holy See, is not an ICAO member, while its other ally Haiti did not touch on the issue at the triennial assembly.
The Caribbean country has been embroiled in widespread political, economic and security crises since its former president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home in July 2021.
Haitian representatives at UN-related agencies such as the ICAO have been focused more on the unrest in their country during such assemblies, a diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.
In its statement, the ministry said that in addition to the advocacy at the ICAO assembly, there have also been efforts on other fronts to support Taiwan's participation in the specialized UN agency, which currently has 193 member states.
Motions have been adopted in the US Senate, House of Representatives and 30 state-level lawmaking bodies, as well as in the parliaments of the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Paraguay, it said.
The ministry thanked Taiwan's diplomatic allies and like-minded countries for their support and reiterated its call for Taiwan's inclusion in the ICAO's triennial assembly and related meetings, mechanisms and activities.
Taiwan last attended the ICAO assembly in 2013 as a guest of the council president, at a time when China's efforts to isolate Taiwan were less aggressive, as cross-strait relations were warmer under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.
Taiwan is not a UN member and therefore not part of the ICAO, which held its 42nd assembly from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3.
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