On 19 August, Taiwan’s Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung called on the international community to support Taiwan’s participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the run-up to the global aviation body’s 75th anniversary and 40th Assembly Session in September. The minister stressed that Taiwan should not to be left out, called on ICAO to allow Taiwan’s participation and stressed the need for international support. Minister Lin pointed out that Taiwan, located at a key position in the Asia-Pacific region, has long enjoyed close air transport ties with countries and areas in the region, citing the Taipei Flight Information Region (Taipei FIR) which provided services to over 1.75 million controlled flights in 2018. The transport minister stressed that Taiwan is an active stakeholder in the international civil aviation community, and the Taipei FIR is an inseparable part of the global network of FIRs.
The minister called on ICAO to allow for Taiwan’s participation, highlighting the hard work of Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to maintain the highest level of aviation safety and service quality in the Taipei FIR. However, Minister Lin pointed out that as CAA Taiwan is excluded from participating in ICAO’s meetings, mechanisms and activities, it is forced to make a substantial extra investment of both time and resources to understand the rationale behind ICAO’s decisions and properly implement its Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). Minister Lin said that allowing Taiwan to participate in ICAO and attend its Assembly would be in line with the global aviation body’s goals of a seamless sky and having “No Country Left Behind”. He added that it would also create a win-win situation for Taiwan, the Asia-Pacific region and ICAO.
The Minister also emphasised the need for international support. The Taiwan official highlighted the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Communique on 7 April, which expressed support for all active members of the international aviation community in ICAO forums and pointed out that exclusion of members for political purposes compromises aviation safety and security. The minister concluded by emphasising Taiwan’s willingness to share its experience in developing the aviation industry as well as technical expertise to pursue the common goal of safe, orderly and sustainable development in international civil aviation.
