《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 China reiterates willingness to ‘discuss’ routes

UNFRIENDLY SKIES? China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang gave pledges of Beijing’s willingness to ease tensions with Taipei

/ Staff writer, with CNA

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China on Saturday said that it is willing to hold more discussions with Taiwan over its planned opening of four flight routes just west of the Taiwan Strait’s median line.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang （馬曉光） said Beijing would be willing to discuss “technical issues” related to the use of flight route M503 soon.

On Monday last week, Beijing unilaterally announced that it planned to open a new route, M503, that hugs the median line of the Taiwan Strait and three east-west routes — W121, W122 and W123 — that connect with it, sparking strong opposition in Taiwan.

On Friday last week, the Legislative Yuan issued a statement panning China’s unilateral decision to open new air routes, while calling on the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take strong action over the matter.

Taiwan has said that the new flight routes, which China intends to implement beginning on March 5, would create flight risks under abnormal situations such as bad weather conditions.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration （CAA） said the M503 route was too close to the Taipei Flight Information Region, a key air transportation hub in the West Pacific, while routes W121, W122 and W123 could affect flights between Taiwan and Kinmen and Matsu.

However, Ma reiterated in a statement that the opening of route M503 was a response to the increasing number of flights on the western side of the Taiwan Strait and an attempt at addressing flight congestion.

China has also prepared adequate safety measures for the use of M503 to ensure flight safety, Ma said, arguing that the M503 route would not affect the operations of flight routes in neighboring airspace.

Chinese civil aviation officials discussed the planned flight routes with their Taiwanese counterparts twice last month, Ma said, and officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are expected to hold more discussions on the matter soon.

Ma said China hopes Taiwan will fully understand the reasons behind the new flight route plan through further discussion.

The CAA said in response that no decision has been made on when to hold discussions.

Acting Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Jian-yu （陳建宇） said he hoped the two sides will hold frequent discussions on the issue before the new flight routes are set to be implemented in March.

He also urged Beijing to shift the planned flight routes further west, closer to China’s coastline.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES