The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced early in the morning of the 19th that from that day, the M503 route W122 and W123 connecting lines will be used to run from west to east. Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that this move is to ease the pressure on the growth of flights in relevant areas, ensure flight safety, reduce flight delays, and protect the rights and interests of passengers, which is beneficial to compatriots on both sides of the strait. However, such a normal air route adjustment move has touched the sensitive nerves of the DPP authorities. The latter exaggerated the flight safety risk as "greatly increased" on the grounds of the so-called "very small airspace separation between the two sides" and "increased complexity of regional aviation conditions and air traffic control operations". Some scholars on the island have mentioned that the "center line of the strait" has been further "diluted" and the depth of Taiwan's air defense has been compressed. In fact, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has repeatedly stressed that there is no so-called "middle line of the strait". Some media on the island believe that the strong reaction of the DPP authorities to the mainland's adjustment of the M503 route and the connecting route just highlights its "dead end": There are too many problems between the two sides of the strait that need to be resolved through consultations, but it is very difficult for the DPP to do so.
Taiwan's United News Network said on the 19th that on the 20th, Xiamen Airlines MF8081 will connect from the W123 route to the east for the first time to the M503 route. The picture shows a Xiamen Airlines plane taxiing at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport in February this year
"The M503 route is located within the Shanghai FIR"
The Civil Aviation Administration of China said on the 19th that in 2024, the civil aviation industry has shifted from recovery and development to incremental quality improvement stage. The optimization of the airspace in Fujian and the adjustment of the operation of the M503 route and its connecting lines will help meet the development needs of air transport between the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as the southeast coastal region, optimize the operating environment, ensure flight safety, enhance the ability to cope with thunderstorms, improve the normality of flights, and serve passengers.
However, the Taiwan authorities reacted strongly to the mainland's use of the M503 route, the W122 and W123 connecting lines, from west to east. Taiwan's "Ministry of Communications" Civil Aviation Administration on the 19th "expressed solemn protest", claiming that the W122 route is close to the southern edge of the Matsu terminal airspace boundary, about 2.8 nautical miles (1 nautical mile is equal to 1.85 kilometers), and the W123 route is closer to the Kinmen terminal airspace, with only 1.1 nautical miles apart at the nearest point, "the airspace between the two sides is very small, and there is a certain risk." The further two-way use of the route will lead to an increase in the complexity of regional air traffic conditions and air traffic control operations, and "greatly increase the flight safety risk" when encountering poor weather conditions or abnormal aircraft operation. Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" said that the Taiwan military will use joint intelligence monitoring and reconnaissance methods to grasp the situation in the airspace around the Taiwan Strait in real time. DPP "legislator" Shen Boyang believes that what Taiwan lacks most now is countermeasures, which will only allow the mainland to "advance step by step."
"The M503 route is located within the Shanghai Flight Information Region, and the establishment and operation of this route is a routine task of the mainland's civil aviation domain management. Zhu Fenglian pointed out on the 19th that since the cancellation of flight bias on the M503 route, the overall operation has been safe and stable, effectively improving the operation of cross-strait flights, and further facilitating cross-strait personnel exchanges.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced on January 30 this year that it would cancel the flight bias measure for the M503 route to operate from north to south from February 1. Subsequently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will enable the M503 route W122 and W123 connecting routes to operate from west to east to improve the efficiency of airspace operation.
Aviation expert Zhang Baoxin said in an interview with the Global Times on the 19th that the route adjustment is because the domestic civil aviation market continues to prosper. Affected by the epidemic in the past three years, route resources are not as tight as they are now, and now that China's economic situation is improving in an all-round way, the pressure on air routes is increasing. In this case, the civil aviation authorities will consider further exploiting the transport potential of existing routes. Adjusting the M503 route can improve transportation efficiency and better meet the needs of the people, without over-interpreting the political significance or military purpose behind the so-called service. Moreover, the M503 route was launched many years ago, and it is understandable that it can be used fully according to actual needs and avoid wasting aviation resources.
China Times Electronic News once published an article saying that the M503 route has been an "old problem" that has lasted for many years, and now the mainland is determined to solve it once and for all, and the Tsai authorities only have the ability to protest, which is "a microcosm of the changes in cross-strait relations in the past eight years." The article says that many of the M503 routes are used for international flights between Shanghai and Southeast Asian countries. With the visa-free provision of land passengers from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, Southeast Asian flights are bound to increase this year, and the adjustment of the M503 route is to prepare for this, "The M503 dispute is a typical political difference between the two sides of the strait: the mainland has the need for facts, and Taiwan has security concerns."
The depth of Taiwan's air defense is compressed?
Taiwan's China Times newspaper said the M503 route was essentially parallel to the so-called "middle line of the strait" and close to its western flank. Taiwan's "Central News Agency" recalled that in January 2015, the mainland issued an announcement to set up M503 and new routes W121, W122 and W123 along the southeast coast. Since the M503 route is only 7.8 kilometers away from the so-called "middle line of the strait", the Taiwan side said that the safety of flights to and from Kinmen and Matsu may face "risks". The leader of Taiwan at that time was Ma Ying-jeou. After consultations between the two sides of the strait, the mainland announced the opening of the M503 route in March of the same year, but it was moved to the west by 6 nautical miles during the actual flight, and adopted a one-way voyage "from north to south", and in case of special circumstances, it would all deviate to the west, while the W121, W122, and W123 routes connecting Dongshan, Fuzhou, and Xiamen in the east-west direction would not be used for the time being. In January 2018, Continental issued an announcement announcing the launch of the M503 route to the north, as well as the east-to-west flights of W121, W122 and W123. The leader of Taiwan at that time was already Tsai Ing-wen. On January 30 this year, the mainland announced that it would cancel the flight bias measure for the M503 route to operate from north to south from February 1.
In the opinion of experts on the island, the mainland's adjustment of the M503 route has the meaning of "legal warfare", but it will not impact the regional situation. According to a report by Taiwan's "United Daily News" on the 19th, Taiwan scholar Jie Zhong said that the M503 route is only more than 4 nautical miles away from the so-called "center line of the strait", and that civil aircraft connect to the M503 from W122 and W123 to the east, as long as the turning radius is slightly larger, it is easy to cross the so-called "center line of the strait" and may even fly into the restricted navigation area set up by TaiwanMeaning. However, Jie Zhong believes that the mainland announced at the end of January this year that it will start the M503 route W122 and W123 connecting lines from west to east, so the impact on the regional situation is limited.
With regard to the "middle line of the strait," the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has stressed on many occasions that the mainland and Taiwan both belong to one China, that Taiwan is a sacred and inalienable part of China, and that there is no so-called such line between the two sides of the strait.
"United Daily News" quoted Shi Xiaowei, moderator of the website "Military Intelligence and Aviation," as saying that in the past, civil aviation planes that took off from Fuzhou and Xiamen would not fly eastward into the Taiwan Strait, but now they are flying towards Taiwan and are close to the so-called "center line of the strait" before switching to the M503 route. As far as the Taiwan Air Force is concerned, this has indeed increased the burden of monitoring and identification, but the take-off locations, flight routes, and air traffic control calls of civil aviation aircraft are all fixed and open information, and it is not difficult to identify them.
Kuomintang "legislator" Lai Shih-pao said on 19 August that the DPP authorities' manipulation of cross-strait relations has led to the intensification of cross-strait confrontation and the Taiwan side's protest is not accepted. He believes that the adjustment of the route means, to a certain extent, that the mainland will no longer "make profits" in this part, and that the selected time point is "very worthy of the government's vigilance." Some civil aviation experts on the island have said that the mainland is doing things within its legal authority, and the Taiwan authorities have no right to intervene even if they have more speculation or dissatisfaction.
Zhang Wensheng, vice president and professor of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University, told the "Global Times" reporter that based on ideological factors, the DPP authorities do not want too close cross-strait exchanges and impose many restrictions in this regard, so they will also deliberately politicize the mainland's normal move to adjust the M503 route and attack it with a set of rhetoric in the direction of "military security."
Well-intentioned exchanges "bring more security than spending a lot of money on arms purchases"
In fact, since its opening in March 2015, the M503 route has been running smoothly, safely and reliably, and has played a positive role in improving flight operations, meeting people's livelihood needs and promoting economic development. However, the DPP authorities have often used the issue to play and provoke cross-strait confrontation. In March this year, Taiwan's "National Security Bureau" submitted a report to the "Legislative Yuan," saying that since the beginning of the year, the mainland has adopted a strategy of "hard in the middle and soft" in dealing with Taiwan, and the "hard" part includes the implementation of "joint combat readiness patrols" on several occasions, the cancellation of the offset of the M503 route, and the announcement of a regular law enforcement and inspection operation in the Xiamen-Jin waters after the "2.14 vicious collision incident." The "soft" aspects include the continuous introduction of a series of measures to promote Fujian's integration with Taiwan.
After the mainland announced the adjustment of the M503 route at the end of January, the DPP authorities suddenly called for a halt on the plan to lift the "ban on group tours" to the mainland in March on the eve of the Spring Festival. Chen Chaoping, a veteran media person, wrote an article saying that through the adjustment of the M503 route, the Taiwan side can push forward more cross-strait route planning work; on the one hand, in order to save fuel consumption in detours, and on the other hand, it can also show goodwill.
An article in Taiwan's "Wang Pao" said that since Tsai Ing-wen came to power, every time cross-strait relations have fallen into tension, she has stressed that Taiwan is a member of the "Democratic Alliance." The implication is that international friends will become Taiwan's backing. "If the DPP wants to resolve the cross-strait issue and maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it does not have to go far and win sympathy from the international community, but it can open the door to cross-strait exchanges and let the people on both sides of the strait get to know each other better." Kind interactions can drive away negative energy and hatred, which is more secure than spending a lot of money on arms purchases.
The China Times Electronic News commented that reviewing the ins and outs of the dispute over the M503 route can leave a lesson for cross-strait relations: The mainland will resolutely push forward the agenda it has set for Taiwan; cross-strait consultation and communication are useful and beneficial to Taiwan, can enhance political mutual trust, is conducive to people's understanding, and is more conducive to a harmonious atmosphere between the two sides of the strait.
Source: Global Times