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.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
MESSAGE: The ministry said China and the Philippines are escalating regional tensions, and Taiwan should be included in dialogue mechanisms on an equal footing Taiwan has rejected renewed sovereignty claims over the South China Sea by the Philippines and China by reaffirming its sovereignty and rights under international law over the disputed area. “The Republic of China [ROC] enjoys all rights to island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea in accordance with international law and maritime laws,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement yesterday. Other countries’ attempts to claim sovereignty over the South China Sea do not change the fact that the ROC holds sovereignty over the region, the ministry said. The MOFA statement came after
RSS