Taiwan on Thursday protested the unilateral launch of mainland China’s flight routes close to the media line of the Taiwan Strait, and urged consultation between the nations’ aviation authorities first.
Meanwhile, China and other countries can explore the Benham Rise east of the Philippines for science expeditions, despite the communist nation’s territorial dispute with several countries over islands in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea, Malacañang said Thursday.
In a protest dated Jan. 4 but released to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila just yesterday, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said it was “unacceptable” that China decided to launch on the same day the northbound M503 flight route on the Taiwan Strait and the W121, W122, and W123 east-west extension routes.
“Mainland China initiated these four routes without prior communication with Taiwan and began flights on them the same day,” the TECO statement said.
Taiwan believes the Chinese action violates the negotiation results reached between the Taipei Airlines Association and China Air Transport Association in March 2015, when China repeatedly pledged to use the M503 route only for one-way southbound flights, and not to activate the W flight routes until after confirmation through further negotiations.
“The unilateral launch of these routes also runs entirely counter to international civil aviation regulations, disregards aviation safety, and disrespects Taiwan,” the MAC stressed.
It then urged all parties, including the Philippines, not to use the four flight routes, “as serious safety concerns remain.”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque defended the Duterte administration allowing China to conduct scientific research in Benham Rise, which is a new frontier for possible oil, gas, and mineral deposits.
The Chinese government has assured “that it will not and will never dispute” the Philippines’ rights over Benham Rise, the continental shelf 200 nautical miles beyond the nation’s shores, Roque said.
“So science is science. Science knows no nationalities. And the requirement is that Philippine scientists must also participate in the scientific exercise, and that the result must be shared with Philippine authorities,” the spokesman said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs had allowed a research vessel from the Institute of Oceanology- Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct research at Benham Rise despite China’s aggressive militarization of islets and reefs within the Philippines’ 320-kilometer exclusive economic zone.
“To allow China or any other nation to study and explore in Benham Rise, a vast undersea region located in the Philippine Sea, about 250 kilometers east of Isabela province, does not require a policy decision,” Roque said.
On Jan. 7, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen convened a meeting of the National Security Council to review developments in East Asia, including the situation with North Korea, tensions throughout the region caused by mainland China’s frequent military actions, and Beijing’s one-sided launch of these flight routes, TECO said.
To resolve the negative impact of this move on regional stability, aviation safety, and cross-strait relations, Taiwan “is ready to act responsibly and cooperatively.”
It also called on the Beijing authorities “to cherish hard-won peaceful and stable cross-strait relations.”