Louise Arbour, winner of the Tang Prize in rule of law this year, yesterday said that it makes sense for Taiwan to have a seat in international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), where the participation of every nation is important.
Arbour, who received the award at a ceremony in Taipei on Sunday, made the comment during a discussion session after giving a speech at National Taiwan University on the rule of law.
When asked during the discussion to comment on Taiwan’s exclusion from this year’s ICAO Assembly in Canada, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. and Supreme Court of Canada judge, said Taiwan has a strong case for inclusion in organizations where international interest in universal participation in high.
“This is why I find it surprising that in the field of international aviation, that there could be an exclusion of a player,” she said.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to use political principles or rules or interests in keeping out partners who need to be enlisted for the greater good,” Arbour said.
“Whatever the method of accommodating Taiwan having a seat at the table, I think it makes sense,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a commentary published by online magazine The Diplomat, David Sutton, a research analyst at the NATO Association of Canada, said the ICAO’s decision to not invite Taiwan to its general assembly due to Chinese pressure is against international principles and the best interests of aviation safety.
Excluding Taiwan from the 39th ICAO Assembly, which was scheduled to open yesterday in Montreal, was the result of a wider campaign of pressure by Beijing to isolate Taiwan from the international community, he said.
The move violates the UN 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.
“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 would 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 said.
“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,” Sutton said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by