Want China Times, CNA 2013-12-01
Taiwan's CAA director-general Jean Shen gives a speech at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Nov. 28. (File Photo/Wang Yuan-mao) |
Taiwan
agreeing to provide flight plans to China is based on security concerns and
does not involve sovereignty issues, Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA)
director-general Jean Shen said on Saturday.
Around 100
daily flights operating on seven routes go through China's recently announced
air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, and the CAA
will submit the plans to China on behalf of carriers flying from Taiwan,
including foreign ones, which account for half of the total, Shen said.
Beijing's
Nov. 23 announcement of its ADIZ is controversial, as the zone covers the
disputed Diaoyutai (Senkaku or Diaoyu) islands, which are claimed by both China
and Taiwan but controlled by Japan.
Shen made
the remark in response to a joint statement issued a day earlier by legislative
caucuses across party lines that called on the government to protest China's
unilateral announcement.
The
lawmakers also said Taiwan should take the same stance adopted by other
countries in the region and stop submitting flight plans to China.
Japan and
South Korea ignored China's demand to be notified about any flights passing
through the zone and sent military planes to enter the area in recent days
after the United States did so at the beginning of the week.
Meanwhile,
the US State Department said in a statement on Friday that US carriers are
expected to operate consistent with "Notice to Airmen" rules issued
by foreign countries.
But this
does not indicate that the US government accepts China's ADIZ, according to the
statement.
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