China said on Wednesday that a no-fly zone north of Taiwan — intended for safety reasons because of a satellite launch — would be in effect for just 30 minutes and not three days as originally announced.
Beijing briefly set off alarms earlier in the day by declaring that a no-fly-zone would be in effect off northern Taiwan from April 16-18, but without giving a reason.
It subsequently clarified its intentions and, after the Taiwanese transport ministry protested at the length of the planned airspace shutdown, said it would last less than 30 minutes.
Chinese officials told their South Korean counterparts that a falling object related to a launch vehicle was set to land in the sea north of Taiwan in a 27-minute window on Sunday morning.
A South Korean official said civilian flights in the area would likely be delayed rather than rerouted because of the narrow time window.
An extended flight ban in the area could have affected 60-70% of flights going between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as flights between Taiwan and South Korea, Japan and North America, an aviation source told Reuters earlier.
The flap over the no-fly zone came just two days after Beijing declared an end to three days of massive war games around Taiwan.
But some Chinese warships and aircraft were still operating around Taiwan on Tuesday, the island’s defence ministry said, a day after Beijing declared an end to its massive war games.
In the military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, Chinese forces simulated targeted strikes and practised a blockade of the island.
The show of force from Beijing was a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, an encounter it had warned would provoke retaliatory measures.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected nine Chinese warships and 26 aircraft around the island on Tuesday morning.
Tsai condemned the military drills on Monday, hours after they officially came to an end, saying China was using Taiwan’s engagement with the United States as an “excuse to launch military exercises, causing instability in Taiwan and the region”.
