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China's no-fly zone north of Taiwan linked to satellite launch: officials

ROC Central News Agency

04/13/2023 11:48 PM

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) A no-fly zone in the East China Sea north of Taiwan, announced recently by Chinese authorities, is linked to China's planned launch of a weather satellite on April 16, Taiwanese national security officials said Thursday.

The no-fly zone, 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan, is not related to China's three-day military exercises that concluded on Monday, but rather is meant to guard against possible falling debris from the rocket that will carry the meteorological satellite when it is launched at 9:40 a.m. on April 16, according to the Taiwanese officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In a statement issued Thursday, China's Fujian Maritime Safety Administration warned that rocket debris may fall between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on April 16, and no ships or planes should enter the area 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan.

Also on Thursday, a social media account on China's Weixin platform, which focuses on rocket launches, posted a countdown for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.'s planned launch of a Long March 4B rocket carrying a Fengyun-3G Weather Satellite.

In late February, the China Meteorological Administration had announced that a Fengyun-3G Satellite would be launched mid-April, and a Fengyun-3F in August.

The Fengyun-3G will be China's first low-inclination orbital precipitation measurement satellite to monitor heavy precipitation in the disaster weather system, the China Meteorological Administration said in the February statement.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese freelance journalist Duan Dang on Wednesday posted a map showing the possible paths of the satellite, which included two other no-fly zones on the Chinese mainland, if the rocket is launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province.

Last year, debris from a Long March 5B rocket carrying parts for China's space station unexpectedly crashed into the South Pacific in early November, following its launch on Oct. 31.

(By Yang Sheng-ru and Kay Liu)

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