Commercial airliners and ships should avoid a zone north of Taiwan proper where China is planning to conduct aeronautic activities on Sunday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday at 9pm in a formal notice to airlines operating in the Taipei Flight Information Region.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a security official said that China is planning to launch a weather satellite in the area.
The ministry earlier in the day said that Beijing gave conflicting information about the duration of the activity.
Photo: CNA
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) received a message from Beijing at about 2pm on Wednesday, saying that its aeronautic activities within the Taipei Flight Information Region would be shortened from three days to 27 minutes from 9:30am to 9:57am on Sunday, the ministry said.
However, China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration yesterday afternoon announced that ships would be banned from the area from 9am to 3pm on Sunday, the ministry said.
Coordinates given by the agency in Fujian Province show that the no-navigation zone is the same as the no-fly zone set up by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration.
“As the two Chinese agencies gave inconsistent reports, we sought further confirmations from the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration,” the ministry said. “We think the agency is requesting more time because it might need to remove rocket debris from the area.”
“We are asking flight and shipping carriers to bypass the area in which aeronautic activities would be held. The CAA and the Maritime and Port Bureau will closely monitor the status in the airspace and waters around the area in the next few days,” it added.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said the ministry on Wednesday night communicated with Japanese aviation officials on the adjustment of flight routes between the Taipei and Fukuoka flight information regions.
“During the 27-minute period, flights scheduled to fly through the area will be asked to deviate from their original flight routes and fly farther south,” Wang said, adding that affected flights might take an hour longer than usual.
China changed its plan for the no-fly zone after the ministry told Beijing about potential international air traffic disruptions, he said.
“The Taipei Flight Information Region is a busy hub with 18 international flight routes. Imposing a three-day no-fly zone would disrupt many international flights, including flights departing and landing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport,” Wang said.
Despite only taking 27 minutes, about 33 flights might be affected by China’s activities, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS