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
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by