The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is scheduled to hold its triennial meeting between September 23 and October 3 in Montreal, Canada.
The body’s 193 member states and a large number of international organizations are invited, which establishes the worldwide policy of the organization for the upcoming triennium. Regrettably, Taiwan is barred from the 42nd Session of the ICAO Assembly, as its exclusion poses risks to international aviation.
The ICAO is the body that regulates and supervises civilian aviation around the world. The ICAO endorsed a global strategy for strengthening aviation security worldwide, which stated that the initiative’s success rests on a uniform approach to establishing consistent
standards.
Deficiencies in any part of the system are a threat to the whole, with the ICAO position that these must be addressed through bolstering international cooperation in aviation security and harmonizing the implementation of security measures.
Aviation safety and security transcend national borders. To ensure the highest standards of air safety worldwide, ICAO cannot afford to exclude Taiwan from participation in its activities.
It’s important and necessary that Taiwan participates in relevant organizations, especially since the Taipei Flight Information Region (Taipei FIR) covers 180,000 square nautical miles and borders four other FIRs (Fukuoka, Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai). It is located off mainland China’s eastern seaboard and between Japan and the Philippines.
In 2024, the Taipei FIR provided services to nearly 1.64 million flights carrying millions of travelers entering, leaving or transiting through Taiwan. Taiwan is a major air transportation hub linking Asia, Europe and North America. That’s why it’s crucial for Taiwan to join the ICAO.
Taiwan’s civil aviation authorities have full responsibility for administering the Taipei FIR. But Taiwan is forced to obtain updated standards and other ICAO information indirectly through other nations, nongovernmental organizations, neighboring FIRs, and private companies, a complicated and needlessly time-consuming process.
This situation impacts Taiwan’s ability to smoothly implement the latest Standards and Recommended Practices (SARP). It also means that Taiwan must spend more time, money and effort than ICAO members on improving aviation safety and security.
Aviation safety in Taiwan is in the best interests of both US economic and civil activity. There are 30-plus airlines that offer direct flights between the US and Taiwan.
In 2024, a record-breaking 651,264 Americans traveled to Taiwan, this figure represents a 7.6% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the Taiwan Tourism Administration.
Furthermore, every week, there are over 92 weekly flights from Tokyo to Taipei, 72 direct flights per week from Seoul to Taipei and 24 airlines that fly from China to Taiwan. Not being a member of ICAO, Taiwan sometimes doesn’t even have access to its technical information.
As a key international transport hub, Taiwanese airspace is critically important to the global community. Allowing Taiwan to participate in ICAO will ensure that it has access to the technical information it needs to continue to conform its civil aviation practices to evolving international safety standards.
According to the resolutions adopted by the previous ICAO Assembly, important and closely related issues to be discussed at the 42nd Assembly—including safety, navigation services, security, environmental protection, and economic matters—require close cooperation among countries.
This underlines the need for Taiwan to attend the ICAO Assembly regularly, enabling it to keep up-to-date with important matters and assist the Assembly in ensuring the safe, secure and sustainable development of international civil aviation.
Taiwan’s role in global aviation is too important to ignore, and the time has come to allow its elected government to observe the assembly. That will ensure that it has access to the technical information it needs to conform its civil aviation practices to evolving international safety standards.
Since Taiwan’s participation in international organizations hinges on China’s agreement, it is extremely important that the US show more convincing support for Taiwan’s participation in ICAO. After all, Taiwan’s attempts have been moderate and reasonable, but China does not have much incentive to budge if there is not a certain level of US pressure.
Moreover, the US remains Taiwan’s best friend, and its actions set the benchmark for the level of support of others. A supportive US stance has the potential to push China to emulate US policy.
Taiwan’s international status has been in limbo for decades. The US should come forward as it did previously to support Taiwan’s effort to participate in the global aviation body, no matter how Beijing reacts.
Kent Wang is advisory commissioner for the Overseas Community Affairs Council of Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United States and a research fellow at the Institute for Taiwan-America Studies. He publishes frequently on Taiwan in Sino-American relations, as well as other topics on East Asian international politics and regional security.