THE civil Aviation Administration of China has announced it has opened a third extension of the M503 flight route, which runs north-south just west of the median line in the Taiwan Strait, reports China Daily.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the measure is aimed at easing the pressure of increased flights in the region.
Since the launch of the M503 route last year, overall operations have improved cross-Strait flight operations, and 'further facilitating the travel of people between the two sides,' said Mr Chen.
Asked for implication of the state media story, AI bot Co-pilot said the report 'does imply that the newly opened flight route facilitates civil aviation flights from mainland China in the direction of Taiwan'.
The move is politically sensitive. 'Taiwan's government has protested the unilateral activation of these routes, arguing that they violate prior agreements and could be used to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,' said the AI bot.
'China maintains that the routes are for civil aviation efficiency, but Taiwan sees them as potentially dual-use, civilian in name, but with possible military or strategic implications.
'So while the routes do not necessarily mean direct commercial flights from China to Taiwan, they enable air traffic to move from the mainland toward Taiwan, and that's why they're seen as significant in both aviation and geopolitical terms,' said the AI bot.
SeaNews Turkey
Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the measure is aimed at easing the pressure of increased flights in the region.
Since the launch of the M503 route last year, overall operations have improved cross-Strait flight operations, and 'further facilitating the travel of people between the two sides,' said Mr Chen.
Asked for implication of the state media story, AI bot Co-pilot said the report 'does imply that the newly opened flight route facilitates civil aviation flights from mainland China in the direction of Taiwan'.
The move is politically sensitive. 'Taiwan's government has protested the unilateral activation of these routes, arguing that they violate prior agreements and could be used to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,' said the AI bot.
'China maintains that the routes are for civil aviation efficiency, but Taiwan sees them as potentially dual-use, civilian in name, but with possible military or strategic implications.
'So while the routes do not necessarily mean direct commercial flights from China to Taiwan, they enable air traffic to move from the mainland toward Taiwan, and that's why they're seen as significant in both aviation and geopolitical terms,' said the AI bot.
SeaNews Turkey
