China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday.
Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said.
These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said.
The airspace reserved in the alert is hundreds of kilometers north of Taiwan and extends south from the Yellow Sea facing South Korea, to waters of the East China Sea facing Japan, it said citing information from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The reserved airspace has no vertical ceiling, which is designated within Notams as SFC-UNL.
While civil aviation seems unaffected, it would take coordination for aircraft to transit such areas, the report said.
“What makes this especially notable is the combination of SFC-UNL with an extraordinary 40-day duration — and no announced exercise,” said Ray Powell, director of Stanford University’s SeaLight Project, which tracks Chinese maritime activity.
“That suggests not a discrete exercise, but a sustained operational readiness posture — and one that China apparently doesn’t feel the need to explain,” Powell told the WSJ.
If the reserved airspace is in fact linked to exercises, it “would represent a meaningful shift in how Beijing uses airspace control as a tool of military signaling,” he said.
China’s Ministry of National Defense and Civil Aviation Administration have not issued statements about the Notams and did not respond to requests for comment, the report said, adding this is not unusual.
Past Chinese drills have focused on controlling routes that could be used by the US military in the event of a conflict over Taiwan, it said.
The reserved airspace could “provide an opportunity to practice the kinds of air combat maneuvers that would be required in such a scenario,” US Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute director Christopher Sharman told the WSJ.
China could be increasing its active military presence while US attention is focused on the conflict in the Middle East, the article said, citing a senior Taiwanese security official.
The airspace reservation is “clearly aimed at Japan,” as China attempts to deter US allies and erode US military influence in the Indo-Pacific region, the official told the paper.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS