‘LEGAL WARFARE’: The launching of the M503 route has made it more difficult to discern military aircraft from passengers jets and has reduced Taiwan’s response time
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 10, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
China’s move to launch northbound commercial flights on the M503 route compromises
Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen, right, speaks at a forum organized by the Cross-Strait Policy Association in Taipei yesterday in reaction to China’s unilateral changes in its use of the M503 flight route. Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
the integrity of Taiwan’s airspace, and the nation should reduce cross-strait flights to force negotiations with China while increasing its defense budget and develop asymmetric defense capabilities, academics said yesterday.
China on Thursday last week unilaterally announced the launch of the M503 route, which is 7.8km from the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as well as three extension routes — W121, W122 and W123 — along the southeast coast of China.
China first introduced the M503 route in January 2015 to ease congestion in a nearby route, but its implications on Taiwan’s air defense resulted in one of the most notable cross-strait confrontations of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) term.
Following negotiations, southbound flights on the M503 route were launched in March 2015. [FULL STORY]
