Bonnie Glaser of CSIS calls on Beijing to discuss the issue with Taipei

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China should talk to Taiwan about the former’s unilateral

launch of the contested M503 flight route in the Taiwan Strait, which has caused security concerns on the island, academics in the United States said Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Beijing announced that flights from southern to northern China would immediately begin using the flight path close to the median line in the Taiwan Strait as well as three feeder routes linking cities on the coast with the M503.

Southbound flights already started flying the same route in 2015, but only after negotiations with Taiwan, which sees the latest unilateral move as a threat to its national security, coming on top of recent approaches by Chinese military vessels and aircraft.

Beijing’s unilateral move was unfriendly and not helpful, so it should discuss the matter with Taipei, said Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She was speaking at a seminar in Washington D.C. organized by the Global Taiwan Institute.    [FULL  STORY]