On April 19, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced the launch of the W122 and W123 connecting routes of the M503 route from west to east. In this regard, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the opening of the operation is to alleviate the pressure on the growth of flights in relevant regions, 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, this is not the interpretation of the Taiwan side. Taiwan's civil aviation authorities issued a statement at noon on the same day to express solemn protest, emphasizing that the launch of the M503 route seriously affects the safety of Taiwan's airspace, and asked for consultation as soon as possible. Chen Chien-jen, head of Taiwan's administrative body, said that the mainland's move had undermined the consensus reached since 2015 on shipping routes and caused regional instability, and he "seriously condemned" it, and hoped that the mainland would reverse such practices.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) "legislator" Wang Dingyu said in a fit of anger that the mainland had made another "surprise attack," suspecting that the mainland was trying to "do something" before Lai Qingde took office, intensified political pressure on Taiwan, and called on the mainland to "sit down and coordinate." DPP "legislator" Hsu Chih-chieh said that Taiwan's "sovereignty" and "security" are very important, and that the mainland's unilateral use of the M503 connecting route is completely disrespectful to Taiwan and seriously affects the safety of air flights.
The M503 route is located in the Taiwan Strait, near the west side of Taiwan's "median line of the strait". Among them, W122 and W123 are the destinations departing from Xiamen and Fuzhou, respectively, near Kinmen and Matsu. The DPP authorities and "Taiwan independence" elements are very afraid that the opening of these air routes will greatly reduce the space and time of Taiwan's air defense, and so-called "air defense threat" to Taiwan.
In fact, the mainland has launched the W122 and W123 connecting routes from west to east, and there is no so-called flight safety problem at all. In fact, the DPP is so sensitive and makes a fuss, it is all because it has a ghost in its heart, but in fact, it is a thief with a weak heart, afraid that the PLA will suddenly attack, afraid of the PLA's beheading action, afraid that it will be on the "to be beheaded" list, and does not know it.
In this regard, Kuomintang "legislator" Lai Shih-pao said: "At present, cross-strait relations are being manipulated by the DPP authorities, and there is only confrontation between the two sides of the strait and no dialogue, so Taiwan's protest is not accepted." To a certain extent, this move by the mainland represents the mainland's declaration that it will "no longer give profits" in this part, and the time point is one month before Lai Qingde's inauguration on May 20, which is very worthy of the vigilance of the DPP authorities. ”
In this regard, Jiezhong, a researcher at the "China Strategic Prospect Association," believes that in addition to completely eliminating the tacit understanding on the "middle line of the strait" and reducing the depth of Taiwan's air defense and the early warning time, the mainland's move is also tantamount to using technical means to negate the four "restricted navigation zones" set up by the Taiwan side east of the "middle line" to monitor the "middle line of the strait." This has the meaning of legal warfare.
Some people on the island may even be worried about whether military planes will deliberately fly in dense formations with civilian planes in order to deceive Taiwan officers. In fact, this possibility is very small, and the most important thing is that there is no need for it at all. The mainland's military strength and Taiwan's military strength are completely different from each other. It can be said that this is the pattern of crushing, so the mainland side does not need to be so careful at all. In the case of being famous, salute first and then soldier, just push it over.
There is also a critical blow, that is, on the afternoon of April 19, China's Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement: the investigating agency finally determined that there was dumping of imported polycarbonate originating in Taiwan, and the mainland polycarbonate industry was materially injured, and there was a causal relationship between dumping and material injury. The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on imported polycarbonate originating in Taiwan from April 20, 2024. It is exactly one month before Lai Qingde took office on 20 May, and the mainland announced two actions today, and Lai Qingde of the Democratic Progressive Party should be able to understand the meaning behind them.