Excluding Taiwan from ICAO against international principles: analyst

The International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) decision to not invite Taiwan to its general assembly due to Chinese pressure is against international principles and the best interests of aviation safety, a Canadian analyst said Tuesday.

Excluding Taiwan from the 39th triennial ICAO Assembly, scheduled to open Tuesday in Montreal, is the result of a wider campaign of pressure by Beijing to isolate Taiwan from the international community, said David Sutton, a research analyst at the NATO Association of Canada.

The move violates the U.N. spirit of developing friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, Sutton said in a commentary published on the online Diplomat magazine.

"China, or any other country, should not dictate world affairs on the basis of threats, particularly when it is contrary to the spirit of cooperation and constructive progress," he said.

He said Taiwan's highly developed and globalized economy is a sizable contributor to air traffic and will affect or be affected by any changes to regulations by which it currently abides.

As Taiwan was invited to attend the last ICAO assembly in 2013, there is no reason its participation should not continue, he argued.

"If Taiwan's delegation is not welcomed in Montreal this week, it will be another unfortunate precedent of Beijing's unnecessary and unconstructive interference in a global regulatory body to the determent of unified progress and cooperation," he said.

Cross-Taiwan Strait relations have cooled since President Tsai Ing-wen (???) took office on May 20, and opposition from Beijing is widely believed to be the main reason behind the ICAO's decision to not invite Taiwan this year.

Beijing has taken a harder line against Taiwan because the new administration has refused to accept the idea that Taiwan and China belong to one China as the political foundation for cross-strait dialogue and exchanges.

Despite the lack of an invitation, Taiwan has sent a seven-member delegation to Montreal, where it hopes to hold talks with Taiwan-friendly countries outside the ICAO Assembly venue.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel