U.S. opposes China’s unilateral launch of new flight routes

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/09
By: Rita Cheng, Yeh Su-ping and Kuan-lin Liu

Washington, Jan. 8 (CNA) The United States is concerned about China’s unilateral activation of four aviation routes near the median line of the Taiwan Strait and opposes one-sided actions to alter the status quo across the strait, a senior U.S. policy advisor said Monday.

In a telephone interview with CNA, Brian Hook, senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, expressed concerns the U.S. has regarding China’s announcement made on Jan. 4.

“We are concerned about reports that Beijing has modified the use of civil aviation flight routes in the Taiwan Strait without consulting with Taiwan authorities,” Hook said.

China’s Civil Aviation Administration announced last Thursday it was opening four new commercial routes in the Taiwan Strait: a northbound path on the M503 route and three east-west extension routes called W121, W122 and W123.    [FULL  STORY]