Taiwan's government has expressed anger after China "unilaterally" changed a flight path close to the sensitive "median line" in the Taiwan Strait, saying it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to change the status quo for possible military means.
China's civil aviation administration said in a short statement late Tuesday that from Thursday it was cancelling an "offset measure" for the southbound operation of the M503 flight route, which is just west of the strait's median line.
The median line had for years served as an unofficial barrier between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and China, but China says it does not recognize its existence and Chinese warplanes now regularly fly over it as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims.