TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s government has responded to China’s “unilateral” change in flight paths near the delicate midway line of the Taiwan Strait, saying it is seeking possible military measures to change the status quo. He expressed anger at what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to do so.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced in a brief statement late Tuesday that it would suspend “offset measures” for southbound operations on flight route M503, just west of the Strait’s median line, starting Thursday.
The median line has long served as an unofficial barrier between China-claimed Taiwan and China, but China says it does not recognize its existence and Beijing is trying to pressure Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims. China’s fighter jets now regularly fly over the median line.
China also announced that it would open two flight routes from west to east, in the direction of Taiwan, from the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou, near the Taiwan-controlled island groups of Kinmen and Matsu. Regular flights to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration and China’s policy-setting mainland affairs commission both said they strongly objected to the move, calling it “unilateral.”
The Mainland Affairs Council says China is ignoring flight safety, disrespecting Taiwan and trying to “package” civil aviation for political or military considerations with a view to potentially changing the status quo in the Straits. said.
“If the mainland side stubbornly clings to its policy, it will have serious consequences that will affect cross-strait relations,” he said.
Chieh Chung, a military researcher at the Taiwan National Policy Foundation, said the new route would be about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the median line and would strain Taiwan’s air defenses’ advance warning and response time.
“We are trying to completely eliminate and deny the existence of a midline,” he said.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said China’s “disrespectful and irrational” actions could easily lead to escalation of tensions.
“Unknown aircraft that enter our country’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) will be dealt with in accordance with operational procedures and emergency response regulations to ensure the safety of our country’s airspace,” it added.
The ADIZ is a wide area that Taiwan monitors and patrols to give Taiwan’s military more time to respond to threats, and Chinese military aircraft have so far not entered Taiwan’s airspace.
China has downplayed the uproar.
The Taiwan Affairs Office said the changes were “routine” to reduce pressure on its airspace and there was no need for China to discuss the matter with Taiwan first.
“There is no so-called middle line,” Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the office, said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
“The M503 route is for civil aviation and is located in the Shanghai Flight Information Zone. This is to relieve congestion in the relevant airspace and routes and ensure aviation safety,” he said.
Route M503 is primarily used by Chinese airlines, as well as foreign airlines flying to and from cities such as Shanghai and Southeast Asia.
Flights between Taiwan and China’s Xiamen and Fuzhou do not cross the strait directly, but instead take a detour route that bypasses the median line.
Taiwan previously complained about the M503 route in 2018, when China opened its northbound portion without first notifying Taipei, contrary to a 2015 agreement to first discuss the flight path. He said he did.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Yimou Li and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Stephen Coates and Christopher Cushing)