UN aviation agency snubs Taiwan amid impasse with China
Taiwan has not been invited to the assembly meeting of a United Nations aviation agency, the latest sign of the pressure China is bringing to bear on the new independence-leaning government of the self-ruled island it views as a renegade province.
Diplomatically-isolated Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, which recognizes China. China, in turn, sees wayward Taiwan as fit to be taken back by force if necessary, particularly if it makes moves toward independence.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said arrangements for the assembly, scheduled from Sept. 27 to Oct. 7 in Montreal, did not follow the pattern ahead of a previous such meeting in 2013, when China had asked for Taiwan to be invited. "ICAO follows the United Nations' 'One China' policy," the agency's communications chief, Anthony Philbin, told Reuters in an email. "While arrangements had been made for their (Taiwan's) attendance at the last (38th) session of the assembly, there are no such arrangements for this one."
