President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that China’s declaration of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over an area of the East China Sea does not involve “air space” or “territorial sovereignty,” but that Taiwan will express its “serious” concern to China and other parties.
It is the first time Ma has commented on Beijing’s ADIZ move, which was announced on Saturday and has generally been viewed as upping the ante in China’s confrontation with Japan over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known to Japanese as the Senkaku Islands — which Taiwan also claims sovereignty over.
The ADIZ that China has drawn up has a small overlap with Taiwan’s own air identification zone, but will have no impact on the ability of Taiwan’s armed forces to conduct exercises, Ma said.
Taiwan will express its serious concerns based on his East China Sea peace initiative, he said.
The principles outlined in the initiative include the shelving of territorial disputes, self-restraint from all parties concerned and peaceful resolution of differences.
Ma made the comments at a meeting of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), according to sources who attended the meeting. The president doubles as KMT chairman.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dodged questions as to what the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s (CAA) decision to abide by China’s new airspace rules means for the nation’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutais.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday that the ADIZ, which went into effect at 10am that day, requires that all aircraft flying through the zone notify China and to obey orders from Chinese officials.
Taiwanese airlines have begun to comply with the requirement that flight plans be submitted before planes fly through the zone, the CAA said in statement yesterday.
That stance stands in strong contrast to reaction from Japan and South Korea yesterday.
The Japanese government told its domestic carriers to stop providing information to China, while restating that the demarcation of the AIDZ in no way affects Japan.
South Korea, which said that part of China’s claimed ADIZ overlaps with its own zone off its southern island of Jeju, said it will not notify China when its planes pass through the area.
Asked whether the CAA’s decision to follow China’s regulations was tantamount to tacitly acknowledging China’s sovereignty over the disputed region, ministry spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said the agency’s decision was “based on professionalism, aviation safety and public interests.”
The CAA decision was to accommodate the needs of aircraft companies and in line with practices adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Kao said.
The CAA said it understood that Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines have decided to follow customary practices and forward their civil aviation flight plans to the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s Air Traffic Management Bureau.
In related news, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) demanded that Ma speak to a visiting Chinese official over Beijing’s new ADIZ within three days.
“Ma should take the visit of Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) as an opportunity to strongly protest Beijing’s move. Chen should be listed as a persona non grata and expelled if he fails to make an appropriate response,” TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a press conference in Taipei.
If Ma did not meet this demand, the TSU would take action on its own, Huang said.
Huang’s statement came one day after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) demanded the Ma administration lodge a protest against Beijing’s move and maintain close contact with its allies. The DPP said Taiwan’s fighter jets and naval vessels in its own ADIZ must not be affected by China’s announcement.
While Ma has boasted about “the best cross-strait relations in decades” during his time in office, Beijing never consulted Taiwan about the ADIZ, Huang said.
Ma’s diplomatic strategy of working with China to counter the Japan-US alliance was a mistake, he said.
China’s unilateral demarcation was part of a “gradual annexation” that keeps pushing the envelope and should alert the public not to ignore its malicious intentions, he said.
Beijing’s redrawing of the ADIZ has jeopardized peaceful development in Asia, regional stability in Northeast Asia as well Taiwan’s security and sovereignty, Huang said, adding that as the president, Ma could not afford to sit around and do nothing about China’s political maneuvering.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
This story has been updated since it was first published.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from