China opens third extension to sensitive Taiwan Strait flight path

Hong Kong - China said on Sunday it has opened a third extension of the M503 flight route, which is just west of an unofficial dividing line in the Taiwan Strait, with Taipei protesting this was a "unilateral" move aimed at changing the strait's status quo.

China last year moved the M503 route closer to the median line, drawing a similarly angry response from Taipei, which says any changes to the flight route and its extensions must be communicated in advance and agreed by both sides.

The opening of the W121 extension comes days before the annual Han Kuang military and civil defense drills that Taiwan holds to simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the democratic island.

The median line had for years served as an unofficial barrier between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and China, but China says it does not recognize its existence and Chinese warplanes now regularly fly over it as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims.

The Civil Aviation Authority of China said that "in order to further optimize the airspace environment and improve operational efficiency, from now on, civil aviation will use the W121 connection line of the M503 route."

Taiwan's China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement to Reuters that mainland China "used unilateral actions to change the status quo and increase cross-strait and regional unrest."

This is the third extension after W122 and W123, which are to the south of W121, opened last year. All three go west to east, from mainland China in the direction of Taiwan.

This measure is aimed at "ensuring flight safety, reducing flight delays, and protecting the rights and interests of passengers," China's Taiwan Affairs Office said.

It added that the opening was "beneficial" to both sides of the strait.

Taipei disputed the explanation as "unjustified," saying "the number of international air travellers on the mainland has not yet recovered" to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

Taiwan, facing ramped-up military pressure from China, which considers the separately governed island as its own, begins its Han Kuang exercises on July 9 and they are set to last for 10 days.

(Reporting by Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)