China’s unilateral announcement of new flight routes should spark a rethink of Tsai’s cross-strait policy.
The row over the new air routes in the west half of the Taiwan Strait, which China launched on January 4 without prior negotiation with Taiwan, raised immediate concerns over the island’s aviation safety and national security.
China’s unilateral decision this time is just another hostile gesture toward Taiwan since its pro-independence leader, President Tsai Ing-wen, was inaugurated in May 2016. Chinese President Xi Jinping froze all official dialogues with her due to the lack of mutual trust or a common political background. Xi’s move means that he regards the 1992 Consensus — which recognizes one China but with different interpretations — as the prerequisite in his Taiwan policy. Sadly, it is unfair but true.
In response to the new flight paths, Tsai has condemned the growing assertiveness from her Chinese counterpart and intends to seek support from the international community, particularly from the United States, but, honestly speaking, the result may not be desirable. China is not legally obligated to negotiate with Taiwan over these new routes in its own flight information region; though the International Civil Aviation Organization has suggested its members do so, there is no real regulation. There are no signs to show that the U. S. State Department will do anything more than call for a “constructive dialogue” between the two sides, which its spokesperson did when this issue was first raised by the press on January 5.
Looking back, the negotiations in January to March, 2015 between Taiwan and China, when these routes were first announced, was a success. At that time China agreed to indefinitely postpone the four new routes — the same ones it has now opened — while also agreeing to move the only open southbound route six miles to the west.
