Taiwan Delegation Departs for Canada Without ICAO Invitation, Hoping to Hold Talks with Members

Taiwan Delegation Departs for Canada Without ICAO Invitation, Hoping to Hold Talks with Members

Source: All Taipei newspapers        September 26, 2016

The 39th Session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly will be held at the ICAO’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada, from September 27 to October 7.

In spite of the fact that Taiwan had not been invited to the event, a seven-member delegation led by Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍), Deputy Director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), still decided to make the trip to Montreal as planned. 

The CAA stated that it sent a delegation to Montreal so that it could discuss issues related to aviation rights and safety with countries friendly to Taiwan during its stay in the city.  

In addition, the delegation could also express thanks to the countries that back Taiwan’s bid to participate in the ICAO, according to the CAA. 

However, it is still not clear how many ICAO member states are willing to hold talks with Taiwan outside of the ICAO Assembly meeting. 

The CAA stated that although Taiwan had not been invited to the event, it still hoped that Taiwan could obtain information regarding aviation safety from resolutions to be adopted by the ICAO Assembly in order to stay abreast of the latest developments. 

In 2013, Taiwan was invited to join the ICAO Assembly meeting as a special guest when Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) served as President. Although the Taiwan delegation was unable to speak before the Assembly, it could still participate in technical panel discussions on the sidelines to obtain the latest information on civil aviation. 

The relationship between Taiwan and the Mainland has entered a chilly phase since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the DPP came to office on May 20. It is believed that Taiwan was not invited to the triennial ICAO Assembly meeting this year mostly likely because of Mainland China’s objections. 

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications stated yesterday that ICAO member states would gather for the triennial meeting to discuss various topics related to technical aviation issues and set aviation safety norms and standards that member states must follow, so Taiwan needed to be kept abreast of ICAO’s latest developments and should not be excluded from such activities.   

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