After decades of dynamic economic growth and the emergence of a dynamic democracy, Taiwan ought to stand shoulder to shoulder with its neighbors in the vibrant East Asia region. However, the nation’s unresolved political status is creating an increasingly large gap in many areas of international cooperation. One of those is international air travel to and from Taiwan.
Because of entirely political reasons, the nation is unable to join the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the international body that helps establish and disseminate information about global civil aviation safety standards. For the safety of its own travelers and airlines, as well as those from Taiwan and around the world, the US needs to lead the way in helping Taiwan find an appropriate role in this international body from which it has been excluded for far too long.
We are happy to report that the US Senate took one step forward in doing so by unanimously passing legislation we authored aimed at helping Taiwan gain observer status at the ICAO.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have demonstrated that the global civil aviation network is subject to vulnerabilities that can be exploited in one country to harm another. The ability of civil aviation authorities to coordinate, preempt and act swiftly and in unison, is an essential element of crisis prevention and response. Our bill places Taiwan on the road to participating in this vital international body by directing US Secretary of State John Kerry to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial ICAO Assembly in September in Montreal, Canada, and others.
It also directs the US mission to the ICAO to request observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO assembly, and strongly urges ICAO member states to support observer status and participation for Taiwan. Finally the bill requires the US Department of State to submit a report to US Congress, within 30 days of enactment of the bill, describing the US strategy to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO.
Our bill concerns the safety of travelers in and through Taiwan, be they American, Taiwanese or from anywhere else. However, more importantly, it is also about having Taiwan play an appropriate role in the global community.
The nation has the world’s 18th largest economy and is the US’ 10th largest trading partner. It sits at the center of the East Asia region, a dynamic hub of economic growth. Yet, due to its unique political status, it has found itself shut out of many of the international bodies that help smooth and regulate the flow of money, people and goods, of which it is a key part. Taiwan-owned Boeings circle the globe and more than 1.2 million flights pass through its airspace each year. Yet Taiwan has no role in the ICAO, hampering its access to the information and training necessary to keep its aviation system in line with global safety standards.
There are many benefits from Taiwan playing an appropriate role in the ICAO, and in other international bodies such as those regulating financial institutions, shipping, fishing, nuclear energy and weapons of mass destruction. All are areas in which Taiwan has an important role to play and where the world would be better off for including it. We cannot allow squabbles about names and flags to undermine the fundamental interests of all nations and their people. It is in the interests of the international community to include Taiwan in these and other international bodies and we want the US, Taiwan’s closest international partner, to lead the way.
US senators Robert Menendez and Jim Inhofe are co-chairs of the US Senate Taiwan Caucus. Menendez is chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Inhofe is ranking member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
RSS