The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)—which helps to coordinate the global sharing of airspace—hosts its 42^nd Assembly, beginning Sept. 23. Rapid geopolitical shifts make it urgent to welcome Taiwan to this meeting.

Taiwan’s inclusion in the ICAO and other international agencies that deal with borderless issues is a long-standing goal of Canada and its G7 allies. Despite ICAO’s motto of “no country left behind,” Taiwan is excluded because of coercion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China’s claim to represent Taiwan is part of its global campaign to legitimize eventual annexation of the island state. This is itself a threat to global peace.

The Republic of China (ROC)—the government that inherited administration of Taiwan from Japan after the Second World War—was a founding ICAO member in 1944. In 1971, ICAO bolstered aviation safety by admitting the Communist-controlled People’s Republic of China, with its vast airspace, as the sole representative of China. Taiwan remained outside of PRC jurisdiction. Because both governments claimed to represent China, pragmatic arrangements were made to keep planes flying safely everywhere.

Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration continued to manage the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) while being excluded from the UN body. Taiwan’s aviation authority still negotiates bilateral aviation agreements, including with Canada. Since the 1990s, when Taiwan democratized, its freely elected government has abandoned all pretence of ruling China, and has sought an autonomous place in international society. But the PRC has never abandoned its goal of integrating Taiwan, and seeks to eliminate Taiwan’s international presence through global lawfare.

Securing Taiwan’s place at ICAO is important to Canada for three reasons.

First, Canada’s trade-based economy relies on aviation. In 2024, the Taipei FIR handled more than 1.64 million flights—including direct flights between Canada and Taiwan, as well as Air Canada flights to and from Hong Kong. 64 million passengers went through Taiwan’s airports that year, including Canadians travelling onward to Southeast Asia or India. In terms of cargo, Taiwan ranks 6^th in international air cargo volume. For most of the COVID-19 pandemic, flights between Taiwan and Canada continued because, even with few passengers, the cargo hold was full of electronics needed in Canadians’ daily lives.

Second, technological change makes Taiwan’s exclusion untenable. For decades, Taiwan received operations manuals and up-to-date instructions from the American Federal Aviation Administration. Nowadays, aviation governance relies on platforms like ICAO’s Secure Portal. Taiwan’s exclusion means its aviation authorities cannot directly access this information. Increased commercial use of AI will bring new challenges.

Third, geopolitical risks have increased. Most dangerously, China uses Taiwan’s exclusion from ICAO in disruptive ways, letting politics trump even their own aviation security. Since 2015, China has unilaterally activated new routes immediately adjacent to the Taipei FIR without following ICAO protocol of consulting with all concerned parties. Between Aug. 4 and 7, 2022, Taiwan had to reroute flights away from its FIR due to suddenly announced military exercises in its airspace. This violated ICAO regulations requiring seven days advance notice. Finally, last November, an unauthorized aircraft approached a US cargo flight in the Taipei FIR. A similar incident happened to a Taiwanese passenger airline shortly thereafter. As a result, Taiwan has become a pioneer in systems that detect the presence and location of other aircraft. Taiwan is on the frontline as China’s military activities impact aviation safety in the region.

China weaponizes aviation safety in its lawfare and psychological warfare against Taiwan, with the clearly stated goal of annexation by any means necessary. China’s impingements on the Taipei FIR, its failure to consult with Taipei, and pressure on Canada and others to temper their support of Taiwan are all part of this.

International complacency risks giving China’s leaders the impression that they can encroach upon Taiwan’s territory with impunity, and risks military quarantine of Taiwan’s airspace by the PRC. Since China also claims territories belonging to Japan and the Philippines, any move against Taiwan could mark the beginning of protracted conflict. All efforts must be made to avoid legitimizing China’s extraterritorial claims and to stem its lawfare against democracies.

ICAO already invites a variety of stakeholders—including non-member states, NGOs, and private enterprises—to participate in meetings and activities. Taiwan even attended the 2013 ICAO Assembly as a guest. Taiwan is not asking for membership, but for meaningful participation.

Including Taiwan is not altruism. It’s a means to repudiate China’s ambitions. Taiwan’s accession to full ICAO membership, like it has at APEC and the WTO, would be ideal. But even an invitation for non-state membership would show that China does not exercise effective jurisdiction over Taiwan’s airspace.

Canada obviously cannot bring Taiwan into international organizations on its own. But it can lead the advocacy, within the boundaries of long-standing Canadian policy to not comment on sovereignty conflicts. Resisting China’s lawfare—which lays the ground for further aggression—protects Taiwan’s resilience and thus upholds the status quo of the Indo-Pacific.

Dr. Scott E. Simon is chair of Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa, and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.