China is preparing to impose a no-fly zone just north of Taiwan after conducting three days of military drills around the island nation.
The restrictions will be in effect on April 16, with the impacted area falling within Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, its defence and transport ministries said on Wednesday.
“China has unilaterally set up a no-fly zone on the convergence areas of many international routes to restrict flights on the grounds of ‘space activities’,” according to Taiwan’s transport ministry.
The Chinese government has not said how it plans to enforce the flight ban, and a foreign ministry spokesman denied knowledge of the matter.
The original flight ban was expected to last three days, from April 16 to 18, as earlier reported by Reuters, citing four anonymous sources.
But Taiwan’s transport ministry said the closure was shortened to a 27-minute window from 9.30am to 9.57am on Sunday after it protested to China.
The no-fly zone was confirmed by both Japan and South Korea.
Beijing told Seoul it was related to a falling object from a launch vehicle set to land north of Taiwan.
International flights in Asia and to North America could be affected, as well domestic flights from the main island of Taiwan.
The restrictions follow more than a week of retaliatory measures from China after Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president, met Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, in California.
China views such meetings as a direct challenge to its claims over Taiwan as its territory, which the latter’s democratically-elected government rejects. Taiwan also has its own military, foreign policy and currency.
The Chinese military conducted three days of live-fire drills around Taiwan, practising a “sealing off” of the island nation. At least 71 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line in the strait between China and Taiwan.
Chinese J-15 fighter jets also approached Taiwan from the east in what appeared to be the first simulation of airstrikes from the side furthest from the Chinese coast.
China also conducted what the government called “patrol operations”, inspecting ships sailing in the Taiwan Strait.
A naval and air blockade of Taiwan – essentially cutting it off from the rest of the world – is one potential attack scenario by Beijing.
The recent measures add weight to the repeated threats by Xi Jinping, leader of China’s ruling Communist Party, to annex Taiwan.
Last summer, China staged its biggest-ever war drills in August when Nancy Pelosi, Mr McCarthy’s predecessor, touched down in Taiwan and met Ms Tsai.
She was the highest-ranking American politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years, infuriating Beijing.
Chinese authorities also imposed controls over six areas of airspace – what it called “danger zones” – around Taiwan for three days after Ms Pelosi’s trip, which led to numerous flight cancellations.
Taiwan is a key supplier of the world’s semiconductors and represents a major flashpoint that could potentially escalate into a military conflict between the US and China as bilateral tensions worsen.
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