Beijing Cuts Duration Of No-Fly Zone Near Taiwan After Protest Ahead Of G7 Ministerial Gathering In Japan

Beijing authorities have shortened a plan to impose a no-fly zone in a busy global transportation corridor north of Taiwan from April 16-18 following criticism from Taipei, Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications said in a statement today.

The duration of the closing will be 27 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 9:57 a.m. on April 16. China originally planned a no-fly zone from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. for three days, the ministry said.

The ministry said China’s aviation authority informed it on Tuesday of the no-fly zone in connection with “aerospace activities” that would disrupt operations in the Taipei Flight Information Region, according to a report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Beijing’s initial time frame would have overlapped with a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Nagano, Japan to be held April 16-18. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would have needed to travel through the no-fly zone to reach the summit from Vietnam, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Beijing wrapped up three-days of military drills around Taiwan on Monday to protest a meeting between U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week.

Beijing claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan, and U.S.-China military and geopolitical tensions are high. Troops from the U.S. and the Philippines on Tuesday began the largest combat exercises in decades in the Philippines and its waters across the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the Associated Press said yesterday. The exercises will last up to April 28 and involve more than 17,600 military personnel, it said.

Taiwan is the world’s No. 22 economy and a vital source of semiconductors. Its chip industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC — one of the world’s largest chip makers, plans to invest $40 billion in a facility in Arizona. Other Apple suppliers from Taiwan besides Hon Hai include Pegatron, Lite-On Technology, Inventec, Catcher Technology, Largan Precision and Compeq Manufacturing.

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