The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said.
The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait.
The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers.
Illustration: Taipei Times
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air traffic disruption triggered by the military drills served multiple purposes.
First, it simulated a “quasi-blockade” by shutting down some of Taiwan’s international air routes, Su wrote in an article published on the institute’s Web site on Wednesday.
“The apparent objective was to demonstrate China’s ability to impose a blockade and exert control over Taiwan, while converting travelers’ inconvenience into public dissatisfaction with the government,” he wrote.
Su said the exercises also tested the feasibility of establishing “joint domain control,” a newly proposed Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) training concept that integrates sea control, air superiority and electromagnetic dominance.
Such integration is intended to secure the sea lines of communication and air routes necessary for logistics and military sustainment during an eventual amphibious landing, he said.
While blocking most of Taiwan’s air routes, China deliberately left open three — M750, G587 and R583, Su said.
“This is believed to have been an exercise in establishing ‘humanitarian corridors’ to facilitate foreign evacuations during a blockade of Taiwan, signaling an attempt to project an image of control and negotiability,” Su wrote.
While military exercises are not prohibited under international law, they are subject to multiple legal constraints and China’s “quasi-blockade” failed to comply with several established international practices, he said.
Although China issued aviation notices and maritime warnings, and claimed to avoid unnecessary interference, Su said the large-scale drills that amounted to a de facto “blockade” seriously overstepped the boundaries of freedom of navigation and overflight.
In particular, he said the exercises contravened the “advance notice principle” set out in Section 6.2.3 of Annex 15 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation on aeronautical information services.
That principle requires notices to be issued 28 days in advance to prevent sudden announcements that disrupt flight scheduling.
“The PLA exercises have clearly compromised the safety and freedom of navigation of Taiwan and neighboring countries, significantly affecting the economic interests and navigational rights of coastal states,” Su wrote.
They also contravened the legal principles and procedures of the UN Charter, international maritime law and international civil aviation law, he said.
Meanwhile, Lin Po-chou (林柏州), another researcher at the institute, said the latest exercises caused the most severe disruption to maritime and air traffic on record.
China’s actions underscored a “hegemonic mindset” that disregards the international community’s commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Lin wrote in a separate article published on Wednesday.
“By responding to calls for peace with displays of force, China has further reinforced accusations that it is a ‘disrupter of the international order,’” Lin wrote.
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