Twenty-eight members of the European Parliament have sent a joint letter to leaders of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the EU to express concern over China’s unilateral decision to alter the M503 flight path.
The letter, which was sent on Wednesday last week, was addressed to ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, European Commissioner for Climate Action Frans Timmermans and European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean.
Jan-Christoph Oetjen, vice president of the European Parliament and vice chair of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, posted the letter on X yesterday, calling on the ICAO to “take immediate action.”
Photo: Reuters
Beijing on Jan. 30 announced changes to the M503 flight path, breaking its agreement with Taiwan that southbound flights on the route should operate 6 nautical miles (11km) southwest of the route.
Two days later, it commenced the W122 and W123 eastbound routes, which the two sides had agreed not to launch before confirming the details of their implementation.
Carrying out the changes without prior consultation with Taiwan “are in direct violation of established agreements between the two sides,” the letter said.
The actions also contravened section 4.2.6 of the ICAO’s Air Traffic Services Planning Manual, which stipulates that establishing and changing flight routes should be made “only after they have been coordinated with all parties concerned,” it said.
The letter said that China’s moves “are politically motivated,” as they were taken shortly after Taiwan completed its presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13, and “without tangible evidence to demonstrate there are real traffic issues to be addressed.”
“This raises concerns about aviation infrastructure being used as a tool for geopolitical pressure,” it said.
Making the alterations unilaterally posed risks to regional stability and predictability, “potentially leading to misunderstandings and escalations” across the Taiwan Strait, it added.
Launching new routes would also “challenge air traffic management and raise the likelihood of incidents or accidents,” it said.
The disregard for Taiwan’s interests further hinders the nation’s participation in the ICAO, which “not only undermines Taiwan’s rights, but also hampers global efforts to ensure aviation safety,” the letter said.
The parliamentarians called for actions from the ICAO to “ensure compliance with established regulations and agreements.”
“It is essential to uphold the principles of transparency, cooperation, and respect for international norms in the management of civil aviation,” the letter added.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the parliamentarians for expressing concern over the issue.
The signatories include members of four major parties in the European Parliament — the European People’s Party, Renew Europe, the European Conservatives and Reformists and the Greens/EFA Group — which showed that clear consensus exists in the parliament regarding China’s unilateral behavior and support for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said in a press release.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never