AMBASSADOR LIN CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN’S PARTICIPATION IN ICAO
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Ambassador Lin has expressed his concern at the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) failure to invite Taiwan to its 39th assembly meeting in Montreal, calling for international support for Taiwan’s participation in ICAO.
In a letter issued during the ICAO meeting, Ambassador Lin stated that Taiwan’s exclusion from the assembly due to political considerations did not just constitute unfair treatment to Taiwan, but also a great loss to the international community. The Ambassador proceeded to state that as Taiwan has full responsibilities for administering the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR), its exclusion from participating in ICAO would be detrimental to aviation safety.
In his call for support, Ambassador Lin concluded by stressing that ‘aviation safety is beyond borders and a basic human right which should not be affected by any political factors; the need for Taiwan’s involvement in ICAO should therefore be recognised and supported by ICAO, as well as the international community’.
The Taipei FIR covers 180,000 square nautical miles and borders Fukuoka, Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai FIRs. Given this, the Taipei FIR is considered one of the busiest air transport hubs in Asia, providing services to nearly 1.53 million controlled flights, carrying some 58 million passengers travelling through Taiwan in 2015.
