Taiwan urges curb over aviation routes

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s legislature urged China on Friday to exercise restraint after Beijing unilaterally announced new aviation routes above the Taiwan Strait on Monday.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng read a statement issued by the Legislative Yuan, calling on China to negotiate with Taiwan and refrain from unilaterally changing the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.

The legislature also asked Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Mainland Affairs Council to lodge a strong protest with China.

In addition, it asked the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry to urge the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s members to express concern over the matter and pressure China to negotiate with Taiwan to ensure safety of the island and international aviation.

China on Monday announced four new aviation routes — one within both the Shanghai and Hong Kong flight information regions — scheduled to take effect on March 5, raising Taiwan’s concerns about the standard of aviation safety in the area.

All are close to Taiwan’s military exercise zones and two of them are close to Taiwan’s aviation routes to the outlying islands of Matsu and Kinmen, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration.

The CAA earlier said they began “unofficial communications” with Beijing on one of the routes in the middle of last year, but did not receive any positive responses.

It said it was surprised when China made its announcement on Monday because the two sides had not yet reached any consensus on the route and it did not know anything about the other three routes during the negotiation process.

Taiwan and China have been governed separately since they split amid a civil war in 1949.

Beijing has since then endeavoured to isolate Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification.

Despite close and growing economic ties, they still view each other as political rivals.