China Expands Taiwan Strait Flight Route Ahead of Taiwan’s Military Drill

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has denounced China’s extension of the flight path as destabilizing.

A ship sails in the Taiwan Strait between the coast of Pingtan island (foreground), the closest point to Taiwan, and another island in Fujian Province, China, on April 7, 2023. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

China’s aviation regulator said on July 6 that it had extended a flight route near the sensitive median line in the Taiwan Strait, just days before Taiwan’s annual military exercises were set to begin.

The Civil Aviation Authority of China stated that it had opened the west-to-east W121 connecting line of the M503 flight path to “further optimize airspace management and improve operational efficiency.”