Beijing endangering regional aviation safety with new route
While tensions on the Korean Peninsula seem to be easing with recent talks between the two Koreas over the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games,
Beijing’s unilateral launch of a northbound M503 flight route with three extensions east has raised concern over cross-strait stability and regional aviation safety.
The M503 route runs just 7.8 kilometres from the median line of the Taiwan Strait and close to the Taipei flight information region (FIR).
Last year, the Taipei FIR provided services to nearly 1.66 million flights carrying 66 million passengers entering, leaving or transiting through Taiwan. Without a proper buffer zone between these routes and the FIR, flight safety is put at severe risk.
China’s move to initiate the M503 route without prior communication with Taiwan not only violates the agreement reached by the two sides in March 2015 but also disregards aviation safety in the region.
The international community should be alerted to the potential impact of China’s action on aviation safety and its implications for regional stability. To resolve these aviation-related issues, Taiwan urges China to promptly resume negotiations between the two authorities concerned.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand
