China to ban vessels from area near Taiwan over rocket debris
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[April 13, 2023]
By Liz Lee and Ben Blanchard
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China will ban vessels from an area near
Taiwan on Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris,
its maritime safety agency said on Thursday, as Japan sought details
from Beijing on a reported no-fly zone in the same location.
China has not commented on the no-fly zone but South Korea, which was
also briefed on the plans, said it was due to a falling object related
to a launch vehicle.
The disruption comes during tension in the region over Chinese military
exercises around Taiwan, a show of force in response to a meeting last
week in Los Angeles between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House
of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China regards Taiwan as its own territory and objects to any
interactions between the Taiwanese leadership and foreign officials.
Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims.
Taiwan's government on Wednesday confirmed a Reuters report that China
was planning to impose a no-fly zone from April 16-18 - when Japan hosts
a meeting of G7 foreign ministers - but later said China had shortened
the stipulation to just 27 minutes on Sunday morning after Taipei
protested.
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The no-fly zone will affect about 33 flights, Taiwan's official Central
News Agency reported, citing the island's transport minister, Wang
Kwo-tsai.
In a brief statement, China's Maritime Safety Administration released
coordinates for the zone, saying shipping was banned from entering from
9 a.m. (0100 GMT) until 3 p.m. on Sunday as there "may be falling rocket
debris".
The coordinates correspond to a rectangular area to Taiwan's northeast,
with the closest point 118 km (73 miles) from Taiwan, illustrated on a
map that Taiwan's transport ministry released late on Wednesday.
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Container ships are seen at the port in
Keelung, Taiwan August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Jameson Wu/File Photo
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The zone is to the northwest of Japan's Ishigaki island and close to
a group of disputed islets in the East China Sea that Japan calls
the Senkaku and China the Diaoyu.
A senior Taiwan official, speaking on condition of anonymity as they
were not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters that China
had not changed its previous notice of 27 minutes of flight
restrictions on Sunday, and that the new notice only covered ships,
not aircraft.
Taiwan's transport ministry said the maritime notice was separate
from the previous one, and that it would issue announcements for
shipping and aviation relating to which areas to avoid at 9 p.m.
(1300GMT) on Thursday.
The ministry said it had also been informed by China that the sea
area affected needed to be closed "based on considerations of
maritime navigation safety such as rocket debris".
Japan had sought an explanation from China on Wednesday as to what
was going on, its Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.
"The government is continuing to collect and analyse detailed
information, including the communication with the Chinese side, and
will take appropriate measures based on the results," Matsuno told a
briefing.
China's foreign ministry declined to comment.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by
Yimou Lee in Taipei and Chang-ran Kim in Tokyo; editing by
Bernadette Baum and Jason Neely)
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