China reduces duration of no-fly zone after Taiwan protest: MOTC
ROC Central News Agency
04/12/2023 05:41 PM
Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said Wednesday that it protested to China over its plan to impose a no-fly zone north of Taiwan from April 16-18, adding that in response, Beijing decided to reduce the duration of the closing to 27 minutes on April 16.
China originally planned a no-fly zone from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. for three days, but following a protest from the MOTC, Beijing agreed to impose the restriction from 9:30 a.m.-9:57 a.m. on April 16 instead, the ministry said in a statement.
The MOTC said China's aviation authority informed it the previous day of the no-fly zone in the name of "conducting aerospace activities," which would severely disrupt operations in the the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR).
A green rectangle northeast of Taiwan is the no-fly zone announced by the Chinese authorities. Graphic: Ministry of Transportation and Communications
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said it is closely following the issue, adding that the no-fly zone is located about 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan, in the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Reuters first broke the news about China's no-fly zone plan on Wednesday, citing four sources with knowledge of the matter.
The news came after China concluded its three-day military drill around Taiwan on Monday, in protest at President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) meeting in California with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week.
(By Matt Yu and Lee Hsin-Yin)
Enditem/AW
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