Want China Times
Date: 2015-03-31
By: Staff Reporter

China is likely to create a buffer zone within its newly created M503 flight route which will

Demonstrators protest the M503 flight route outside the Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei, March 29. (Photo/CNA)

extend the time People’s Liberation Army fighters would take to reach the median line of the Taiwan Strait from five seconds to 55 seconds, a senior official from Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council has told our sister paper Want Daily.

The M503 route was originally created in 2007 but China postponed the implementation of the air route prior to the 2008 presidential election in Taiwan in 2008 as it was mindful that the controversy could undermine the likely victory of the Kuomintang’s Ma Ying-jeou, seen as the pro-China candidate. Furthermore, China did not have that many scheduled flights across the strait at the time, according to the official.     [FULL  STORY]