Facing up to a bully
After declaring an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea and engaging in the nine-dash demarcation line dispute with Taiwan last year, China is establishing new air routes in an attempt to lay its bullying hands on the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, which will put Taiwan’s air defense at risk, a situation that the government must not tolerate.
China has recently gone through the International Civil Aviation Organization to unilaterally set up new air routes — M530, W121, W122 and W123 — along the western side of the Taiwan Strait’s middle line. Beijing’s tactic to curtail Taiwan’s sovereignty is similar to what it did back in 2007, when it also created new air routes very close to that median line.
The new M503 route is very close to Taipei’s Flight Information Region and merely 7.8km away from the Strait’s median line. Not only will this endanger the safety of flights from Taiwan to Kinmen and Matsu, it will also affect Taiwan’s air force training exercises, put pressure on Taiwan’s air defense response time and directly affect national defense.
Taiwan’s air force has four exercise zones in western Taiwan. By establishing new air routes, China can collect secret information regarding Taiwan’s military exercises.
To prevent that from happening, the exercise sites will have to be relocated to the east coast. As a result, military training and exercises will take place in the east, while real combat would take place in the west, which will seriously impact the air force’s ability to engage in battle.
Further, to achieve China’s strategic goal of breaking through the first island chain, Beijing has to make the Strait and the South China Sea its territorial waters. For a long while, China’s People’s Liberation Army has been quite active near Taiwan’s territorial waters and airspace. Since direct cross-strait flights and sea transport have become a reality, once China turns the Strait and the South China Sea into its territorial waters, it can easily break through the first island chain and contend with the US for domination of the western Pacific Ocean.
China’s intimidating manner as an unfriendly neighbor can be seen in more than one instance, but faced with strong opposition from neighboring countries, and because its armed forces are not sufficiently strong, it will find a way to make a face-saving compromise.
The establishment of the air defense identification zone in the East China Sea is such an example, in which China was faced with strong opposition from the US, Japan and South Korea, forcing it to ultimately give up its airspace control mechanism in the region. Beijing was going to establish a similar zone in the South China Sea, but because of the complexity of that area’s sovereignty issue and an unwillingness to enter into diplomatic conflict with other nations at that time, the plan was shelved.
Apparently, if countries can join hands in fighting China back, Beijing will calculate its losses and gains, and retreat. By contrast, if we respond to Beijing’s threats with tolerance and weakness, China will only raise its demands further,and Taiwan’s sovereignty and international space will only be further restricted.
Chen Ching-chuan
Greater Kaohsiung
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