China’s unilateral decision to alter its M503 flight path is an attempt to put pressure on Taiwan’s air defenses and is an act of “legal warfare” to further isolate Taiwan internationally, experts said on Tuesday.
National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said that Beijing’s announcement imposes constraints on Taiwan’s air defense strategies and reduces air force response times.
It was a unilateral move that attempts to negate the existence of the median line and undermine the legality of Taiwan’s designation of restricted airspace, Chieh said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) said that Taiwan would be under greater pressure to keep an eye on regional air traffic, as it would now have to monitor Chinese military and civilian planes in addition to planes accessing Taiwan.
“The Chinese Communist Party has essentially erased the ‘gray area’ between war and peace,” Shen said.
The move was an apparent response to the results of last month’s presidential election, he said.
Defence International editor-in-chief Chen Kuo-ming (陳國銘) said that the move was aimed at the incoming administration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) and there would be other such actions before Lai is inaugurated on May 20.
The chances of the M503 flight path facilitating a possible hostile takeover of Taiwanese airfields are slim, as China has limited air-drop capabilities and Taiwan’s military has the means to act against such an incursion, Chen said.
China has stated that the move was “to alleviate growing pressure on regional flights,” which is a civilian transportation issue, he said, adding that Taiwan’s civilian flight authorities should look into how to respond.
A Voice of America report cited Council on Foreign Relations researcher David Sack as saying that the move is a “legal warfare” ploy targeting Taiwan and that the Chinese government’s attempt to remove Taiwan’s legal presence was worrying.
The US and allies Japan and Australia could help integrate Taiwan into regional trading systems, and encourage interactions between Taipei and other countries with which it does not have official diplomatic relations to counter China’s ploy, Sack said.
Most importantly, Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities must be bolstered to reduce the military threat from Beijing, he said.
Chaoyang University of Technology Department of Aviation Technology associate professor Alex Lu (盧衍良) said that setting aside political issues, the M503, W122 and W123 flight paths considerably overlap with airspace used by Taiwan.
Given flight safety considerations and the spirit of document 9426 of the International Civil Aviation Organization, both sides should seek dialogue and to understand how each other operates to minimize the risk of planes passing close to, or crashing into, each other, Lu said.
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