China likely to boycott International Air Safety Summit in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Oct 30, 2019, Taiwan News. Representatives of China, Hong Kong and Macau are likely to boycott the International Air Safety Summit to be hosted by Taiwan for the first time ever, media reports said Wednesday (October 30), reported the Taiwan News.

Taiwan’s China Aviation Development Foundation (CADF) Chairman Kent Wang (王國材) confirmed that representatives of the three areas had not registered yet for the November 4-6 conference to be held in Taipei, the Liberty Times reported.

The 72nd annual summit was still open for registration, but in addition to official delegations, two Chinese citizens working for Boeing and GE Aviation respectively had met with visa problems, Wang said.

A further two Hong Kong citizens employed by the private sector were listed to attend the summit, though it was not clear yet whether they would actually attend, the report said.

This year marks the first time that Taiwan is hosting the annual air safety summit, which started 71 years ago. At the 2018 edition in Seattle, Wang, who also serves as deputy transportation minister, succeeded in attracting the conference to Taipei.

The event expects over 300 guests from 30 countries, while domestic members include government aviation safety bodies and airlines.

CADF was planning to hold a news conference Thursday (October 31) to address issues such as the reports of a Chinese boycott, according to the Liberty Times.