BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- “No country should be left behind with regards to aviation activities.”
The Minister of Works and Public Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, pleaded for the participation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the 41st Session of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) General Assembly yesterday at Montreal in Canada. He said this during his address.
The above mentioned general assembly started on September 27, 2022 and it is ending today.
The minister said the ICAO under the ‘No Country Left Behind’ initiative continued to deny certain critical stakeholder’s participation in its activities.
“Safety should not be politically motivated for when contravening human lives that are at stake.
“Therefore, the Kingdom of Eswatini, under the theme of the 41st Assembly ‘Reconnecting the World’ and based on the principle of inclusion advocates for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in ICAO meetings, activities and mechanisms,” said the Minister of Public Works and Transport.
Ndwandwe’s plea follows His Majesty King Mswati III’s plea at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 77) where he urged that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is included in United Nations activities.
Last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, through its social media pages, pleaded for Taiwan to participate at the 91st INTERPOL General Assembly which will be held in India.
INTERPOL is the acronym for International Crime Police Organisation.
“Taiwan is committed to working with the rest of the world to fight transnational crime and has proven its ability to make the world a safer place. Eswatini, therefore, urges INTERPOL to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation as an observer,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The Republic of China (Taiwan) acknowledged and applauded Eswatini for its effort to vouch for them at the ICAO General Assembly. They did this through their Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Twitter page.
“Thank you Eswatini for the powerful message “Safety should not be politically motivated”. Taiwan’s inclusion in ICAO is critical to global aviation safety,” said Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Worth noting is that currently, Taiwan is not recognized by the United Nations and its subsidiaries and Eswatini is constantly vouching for the country to be eventually recognized.
