Canadian MP Calls Out China’s Flight Route Changes in Taiwan Strait, Calls for Action by UN Aviation Agency

A Chinese J-11 military fighter jet flies above the Taiwan Strait near Pingtan, the closest land of mainland China to the island of Taiwan, in Pingtan in southeastern China's Fujian Province, on Aug. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Liberal MP Judy Sgro called for action from an international aviation regulator after China’s recent adjustment of flight routes in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing’s move has garnered international criticism, with concerns raised about potential threats to regional stability and aviation safety.

On Feb. 7, Ms. Sgro met with Harry Tseng, the Taiwanese representative in Canada, to discuss various issues related to Beijing’s ongoing pressure on Taiwan. Mr. Tseng was invited to offer insights to MPs on the regime’s responses to the recent presidential election in Taiwan, according to a press release from the Taiwan representative office in Canada.

Authorities in the communist-led mainland have made arbitrary territorial claims over the self-ruled island and have increasingly exerted economic and military coercion on the democracy.

At the meeting, Ms. Sgro specifically highlighted the unilateral decision by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to revoke a 2015 agreement with Taiwan, which had shifted the M503 flight route westward by 6 nautical miles from the median line of the Taiwan Strait. China’s Jan. 30 decision also announced initiating the use of flight routes W122 and W123 by the Chinese side.

Taiwan had previously expressed concerns regarding China’s utilization of these flight routes, pointing to their proximity to the median line of the Taiwan Strait. This line serves as a demarcation of territorial waters between the mainland and Taiwan.

“It is imperative to understand why China’s unilateral decision to alter flight routes without consulting Taiwan is not only a breach of the status quo across the Taiwan Strait but also poses a grave threat to aviation safety, peace, and stability in the region,” Jin-Ling Chen, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto, told The Epoch Times in an email statement on Feb. 8.

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In a statement issued on Jan. 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan (MOFA) protested Beijing’s decision, citing regulations from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations specialized agency that coordinates principles of international air navigation.

Quoting Section 4.2.6 of ICAO’s “Air Traffic Services Planning Manual,“ MOFA noted that ”changes to any route network should be made only after they have been coordinated with all parties concerned.”

Government Responses

In response to the changes in flight routes by the Chinese authorities, the Parliamentary Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group is inviting its members to send a letter to the president of the ICAO Council, Ms. Sgro said, according to the press release from the representative office of Taiwan.

Global Affairs Canada declined to comment on the issue and redirected The Epoch Times to Transport Canada, which didn’t provide a response by publication time.

Meanwhile, French politicians have expressed concerns in response to Beijing’s decision.

On Feb. 7, French Senator Brigitte Devésa raised the issue in the French Senate, as reported by the Chinese language edition of NTD Television, a sister company of The Epoch Times. “Beijing’s intentions are quite clear: to disrupt Taiwan’s airspace defense and exploit civilian air routes to conceal military activities,” she stated in French.

In response, French Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Séjourné reiterated France’s stance on the Taiwan Strait, stating, “We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo and reject the use of force or coercion to alter the current situation.”