The Civil Aviation Administration of the Mainland announced that it will cancel the “north-to-south flight offset of the M503 route” starting from February 1. The outside world believes that this intention is to blur the central line of the strait and increase the pressure on Taiwan’s air defense monitoring. The picture shows a civil aircraft preparing to take off from Songshan Airport on January 31. (Photo by Luo Yongming)
The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that it will cancel the north-to-south flight offset of the M503 route, and will subsequently enable the W122 and W123 routes connected to M503 to operate from west to east. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense jointly condemned yesterday, criticizing the other side’s unreasonable actions and calling for consultations with our country as soon as possible. Executive President Chen Jianren even criticized this move as undermining the current peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and the region, and inappropriate actions should be stopped; Transportation Minister Wang Guocai It is also said that W122 is close to Matsu’s Nangan and Beigan, and W123 is very close to Kinmen Shangyi Airport. If there is no communication for takeoffs and landings, there will be flight safety concerns about the parallel distance and altitude.
Chen Jianren criticized the Chinese mainland government for unilaterally changing the route, undermining the negotiated conclusions between the two sides since 2015, and also affecting flight safety. He would like to specifically remind that whether the M503 changes the route or releases balloons to pass through our country’s airspace, it will undermine the Taiwan Strait. and the current security and stability of the region. Our government condemns this inappropriate behavior.
The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that the Chinese military will not seek war when preparing for war, and will not avoid war when responding to war. It will use joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods to continue to closely monitor and investigate and understand the dynamics of the sea and airspace surrounding the Taiwan Strait. Unidentified aircraft that enter our air defense identification zone will also be monitored accordingly. Operating procedures and emergency response regulations should be implemented to ensure the safety of our airspace.
Wang Guocai pointed out that the Mainland China Civil Aviation Administration’s decision did not go through cross-strait consultations. M503 is close to the Taipei Flight Information Region and is only 4.2 nautical miles from the center line of the Taiwan Strait. If the weather is bad, the aircraft will turn eastward and may conflict with civilian or military aircraft.
Wang Guocai emphasized that W122 is close to Matsu’s Nangan and Beigan, and W123 is very close to Kinmen Shangyi Airport. If there is no communication for takeoffs and landings, there will be flight safety concerns about the parallel distance and altitude. This is a very serious matter. This matter involves civil aviation and the military, and is currently being handled by the national security unit to develop countermeasures.
Lin Junliang, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that in the use of routes, 6 nautical miles westward is to avoid interference caused by weather factors causing aircraft deviation. Different flight information regions are adjacent, and some changes in measures require communication between the two parties. The current situation of M503 is different from what was agreed in 2015.
As for whether W122 and W123 will affect the domestic operation of Jinma? Lin Junliang said that the distance between routes will be slightly affected, and the Civil Aviation Administration will continue to monitor it. At present, flights to Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu will fly as planned. It is too early to tell the impact.
The tourism industry is worried, cross-strait relations are not good, and now there is the M503 dispute. It is difficult to look forward to the mainland passenger market this year. Wang Guocai responded that 6.4 million international tourists came to Taiwan last year, and the target was still reached even though there were no mainland tourists. He admitted frankly that if mainland tourists still do not come this year, the goal of reaching 12 million international tourists will not change, but it will be “very hard.”
In addition, the opening time for group travel to the mainland on March 1 remains unchanged, and the Tourism Administration is expected to announce the details of the implementation measures next week. As for the group limit, the Tourism Department uses 2,000 people per day as the upper limit for reference.
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2024-01-31 20:10:00
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