Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington, Joseph Wu (
Wu said the plan threatens the "status quo" and called on Washington to speak out against it.
Wu raised the issue during a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank, elevating it to a matter of foreign policy concern.
"I think we all need to stand up to China and tell Beijing that it is threatening the `status quo' across the Taiwan Strait," Wu said.
"And if we speak out against China, then China might learn that threatening the `status quo' ... may not be conducive to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
The US State Department had no immediate comment on Wu's remarks about the air route, but questions have been raised in Washington over the Bush administration's willingness to assist Taipei this time, given recent Taiwan-US political strains.
Nevertheless, it was believed that the State Department was working on some response to the Chinese initiative.
Beijing recently filed a formal application with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Asian regional office in Bangkok to initiate regular service on Jan. 1.
Based on the plan, flights would run some 4.2 nautical miles (7.8km) west of the centerline.
Since the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is in charge of China's civilian aviation and airspace, the bid to operate regularly on Taiwan's side of the strait is seen as a militarily provocative move, rather than simply a civilian transportation action.
In addition, the planned flights could pose a safety hazard as they would cross existing flight paths between the offshore islands of Matsu and Kinmen and Taiwan proper.
"I think China's behavior is reckless," Wu told academics, former government officials and journalists during his presentation.
He said that China's Civil Aviation Administration has already issued a press release saying that the Central Military Commission and the State Council had approved the route.
The press release was made late last month and the military commission approved the plan early this month.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen also said that Beijing was seeking ICAO's blessing to create a so-called "Air Defense Identification Zone" within the Strait to limit the entry of foreign aircraft in a bid to prevent Japan and the US from spying on China.
The air traffic route would be in an area of heavy traffic in the air and at sea.
"It's not only dangerous, but also threatens to change the international `status quo' over the Taiwan Strait," Wu said.
As Taiwan is not a member of ICAO, it cannot communicate its concerns directly with the body and has been unable to determine how far Beijing's application has gone in the approval process.
Wu said that Taiwan's exclusion from the global aviation organization was "painful" and that it prevented Taipei from getting "any kind of information" from the organization.
Officials in Taiwan have said Taipei found out about the Chinese plan indirectly through Hong Kong authorities.
"What we are trying to do right now is tell our friends that this [Beijing's planned route] changes the `status quo' in the Taiwan Strait, that it threatens regional peace and security and compromises Taiwan's ability to defend itself," Wu said.
"Some friendly countries have been helping Taiwan in this regard, but we have yet to learn of any specific progress on this issue," he said.
He did not provide details on Washington's response to Taiwan's entreaties.
The Nelson Report, a well-connected Washington insider newsletter, wrote recently that while "it is the United States that usually supports Taipei in organizations like the ICAO when there is a real problem, this looks like it might be a real problem, nibbling away at the island's [sic] strategic depth."
"But [Chen's] approach to the current elections campaign, and Washington's belief that he has paid too little attention to American security interests, may have reduced greatly our [US] incentive to carry Taiwan's water's in ICAO," it said.
"Given Chen's machinations, [the] State [Department] is afraid that anything they do to support Taiwan's legitimate international space just gets twisted by the dark greens," a source has said.
Washington is also smarting from the USS Kitty Hawk incident, in which China denied the aircraft carrier group last month a Thanksgiving port holiday in Hong Kong, purportedly in retaliation for massive US arms sales to Taiwan, after which the group sailed up the Taiwan Strait in apparent revenge for the Chinese snub.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by