October 29th, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun presided over a regular press conference.
A reporter from China-Arab TV asked that Pakistani Defense Minister Ashif stated on the 28th that Pakistan has closed its airspace to airlines from Taiwan, China, in order to adhere to the one-China policy. This is the first country in the world to take such measures. What is the Chinese side's comment?
Guo Jiaqun said that the one-China principle is a widely accepted consensus in the international community. As far as we know, there are no obstacles for people from Taiwan to travel internationally.
According to previous reports, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday: "The aviation authorities follow a ‘one China’ policy—only allowing airlines from the Chinese mainland." He added, "We only allow Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistani airspace."
Reports say that Pakistan is the first country to adopt such measures.
Reports indicate that Taiwanese airlines have been adjusting their flight routes since last weekend. According to Flightradar24, since the morning of October 25th, flights operated by China Airlines and EVA Airways have no longer flown over Pakistan. Since Sunday, at least 12 round-trip flights between Asia and Europe by these two airlines have been changed to fly over Russian airspace.
Hawaii Airlines and EVA Air both refused to comment. The foreign affairs departments in Taiwan have not responded yet. Their civil aviation authorities also said they have never prohibited Taiwanese airlines from flying over Russian airspace.
Latest reports indicate that two Taiwanese airlines, Hualing and Evergreen, have been given a deadline: they are only allowed to use Pakistani airspace from October 28 this year to March 27 next year.
