China began commercial flights along its controversial M503 air route yesterday morning, with six international flights employing it, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said.
No “abnormal movements” were detected along the route, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Critics say the new route — unilaterally announced by Beijing — is too close to Taiwan’s airspace.
Council officials said they would continue monitoring the route and take appropriate measures to protect Taiwan’s national security.
The establishment of the new route in China’s Shanghai flight information region sparked national security concerns, as part of it is just 7.8km from the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The Strait’s median line is the de facto boundary between Taiwan and China.
CAA records from yesterday showed that six flights had used the route as of 11:30am, with five of them departing from Shanghai Pudong Airport and one leaving from Qindao.
Of the Shanghai flights, four were Dragonair trips to Hong Kong, and one was a Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur. The one leaving from Qingdao was a China Eastern Airlines flight to Hong Kong.
The CAA said that none of these flights deviated from the route and maintained altitudes of 31,000 feet (9,449m) or above.
The agency said that 16 airline companies have applied to use the route, adding that the number of daily flights should not exceed 30.
Beijing had planned to start sending commercial aircraft along the route on March 5.
Due to a fierce reaction from the Taiwanese public, China and Taiwan engaged in cross-strait negotiations. China postponed the launch of the route to yesterday and agreed to move it to the west by 6 nautical miles (11km).
In a report to the legislature on Thursday last week, National Security Bureau Director-General Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) said that the modified commercial route — now slightly closer to China than originally planned — would leave Taiwan with considerable leeway to react to any potential air attacks and would reduce China’s own patrol areas for Chinese fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait.
In other news, the CAA yesterday said it would announce its new aviation safety bulletin today, asking all domestic airlines to amend their safety management procedures by requiring that there be at least two members of the flight crew in the cockpit at all times during flights.
It added that it would conduct inspections to determine whether airlines observe the new rule.
Prior to the announcement, most domestic airlines announced over the weekend that they would start enforcing the rule following the crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 on Tuesday last week.
French air accident investigators released some evidence from the cockpit voice recorder on Thursday that seemed to show the pilot was locked out of the cockpit during the flight and that the copilot was alone inside the cockpit before the fatal crash occurred.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was