China allegedly intends to shut down airspace north of Taiwan on April 16-18. Sixty to seventy percent of Northeast Asia–Southeast Asia flights, as well as Taiwan–South Korea, Japan–North America flights, would be impacted by the flight ban.
Taiwan said on Wednesday that it has successfully pushed China to dramatically reduce its proposal to block airspace north of the island, preventing more travel disruption during a time of heightened tension in the area owing to China’s military drills.
Even though China hasn’t said anything about the no-fly zone, South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, claims it’s because something fell off a satellite launch vehicle.
China had informed Taiwan it would impose a no-fly zone between April 16 and 18, but after Taiwan raised objections, the period was cut to 27 minutes on Sunday morning, according to Taiwan’s transport ministry.
As a direct response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, China conducted military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan for the past few days.
