Taiwan has taken its objection to China’s plan to open new flight routes in the Taiwan Strait to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said yesterday.
The government has also conveyed its position on the matter to major countries and urged Beijing to continue negotiations on the issue with Taipei, Lin said.
“The mainland should not implement the new routes before the negotiations are completed,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Photo: CNA
The unilateral move by China is totally unacceptable to Taiwan, he said, adding that since Beijing has yet to file a formal application with the UN agency, the plan can still be changed.
At a separate meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, officials said that Taipei had conveyed to Beijing its position on the issue and Beijing had indicated that it was willing to communicate with the government.
According to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), Beijing announced an updated aviation safety bulletin on Monday morning that added four new air routes near China’s southeast coast. Among them, the north-south M503 route runs nearly parallel to the median line of the Taiwan Strait, coming as close as 7.8km. The three other routes — W121, W122 and W123 — run east-west and serve as feeder routes for the M503, with W122 and W123 potentially affecting flights to Taiwan’s outlying islands of Matsu and Kinmen.
Beijing has indicated that it plans to start using these new routes on March 5, the CAA said.
Lawmakers questioned the potential safety issues engendered by the establishment of these new routes.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said that a preliminary investigation into the Dec. 28 crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 showed that the pilot had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm, but the request was denied because there were other aircraft above him.
Yeh said that flights to Kinmen and Matsu might be similarly at risk if the air routes of Taiwan and China overlap.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that although Taiwan is not a member of the ICAO, it can still communicate with the Beijing government through the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).
The new air routes would not only threaten aviation safety, but also national security, she said.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) expressed her dissatisfaction with the way the government had reacted to Beijing’s unilateral move.
Kuan said that US Department of State deputy spokesperson Marie Harf had also urged China to communicate with all parties that would be affected by these new routes because the issues are important to Washington.
“The ministry only asked the CAA director-general [Jean Shen (沈啟)], who is to retire on Friday, to respond, while the MAC also indicated that cross-strait negotiations would continue as planned without any disruption,” Kuan said.
Top US officials cannot express concern over this matter if Taiwan does not take tougher action, she said, adding that the incident has exposed the government’s ignorance of political maneuvering.
“How can the US play an eagle if the government is as gentle as a dove?” Kuan asked.
CAA Deputy Director-General Fang Chih-wen (方志文) said in response that the agency had conducted two informal negotiations with Chinese government officials at the end of last month, in which the agency had clearly said that China should not interfere with Taiwan’s air routes.
“Both the MAC and the SEF had asked China to move further west from the M503 route, so that there would not be any safety issue when there is unstable weather,” Fang said.
Acting Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Chien-yu (陳建宇) said that Taiwan still has time to negotiate with China, adding that China is willing to negotiate.
In Beijing, China said on Wednesday that Taiwan should not be so suspicious of its intentions on opening new commercial air routes.
Chinese state media outlets quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office as saying that Taipei must be “more understanding and less suspicious” about the four routes.
Additional reporting by Reuters
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US