President Tsai Ing-wen said Sept. 23 that flight safety is the most basic human right and Taiwan must not be excluded from meetings of the International Civil Aviation Organization due to political factors.
“Taiwan did not receive an invitation for the 39th assembly of ICAO, and we wish to express our strong dissatisfaction and regret,” Tsai said while receiving a European Parliament delegation at the Office of the President in Taipei City. “This is extremely unfair treatment, and a loss for international flight safety.”
According to Tsai, there must be no discrimination against aircraft carrying passengers of different ethnicities from countries and regions around the world. But this has not been the case over the past 42 years, she added, with Taiwan forced to gather information on flight safety indirectly in an effort to keep Taipei Flight Information Region operating without incident.
Statistics by Airports Council International reveal that more than 1.53 million aircraft carrying 58 million passengers passed through the TFIR last year. In addition, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was ranked 11th and sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger and cargo volumes, respectively.
“Flight safety is nonnegotiable and Taiwan must have direct access to timely and accurate information from ICAO,” Tsai said. “This is the greatest guarantee of flight safety and a common expectation of the people of Taiwan.”
Taiwan took part in the 38th assembly held in 2013 as a special guest of then-ICAO Council President Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez. This was the first time in 42 years the nation had been invited to participate in an official meeting of the U.N. specialized agency responsible for setting international aviation standards and promoting air safety. (JSM-E)
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