Pakistan bars Taiwan carriers from its airspace under One-China policy

Pakistan has closed its airspace to Taiwanese airlines, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif telling Bloomberg News that only mainland Chinese carriers are permitted to fly over the country.

"The aviation division follows the One China policy: only mainland China is allowed," Asif was quoted as saying. "We have permitted only Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan."

Bloomberg reported the move on Wednesday in a dispatch carried by Business Recorder, describing it as the first such step taken by any country. There was no separate confirmation from Pakistan's Aviation Division, and Asif's remarks to Bloomberg were the only official Pakistani comment cited in the reports.

According to the Bloomberg account, Taiwanese carriers began re-routing their flights over the weekend. Flightradar24 tracking data cited by the outlet showed that China Airlines Ltd and EVA Airways Corporation had not flown over Pakistan since the morning of October 25, and that at least a dozen of their services between Asia and Europe had travelled over Russia since Sunday.

Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration did not comment on the re-routing, Bloomberg reported, but said it has never banned its airlines from flying over Russia. Daily Pakistan also carried the story, describing the decision as a show of support for China.

Pakistan has consistently adhered to the One-China policy, treating Taiwan as an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China: a position Islamabad presents as a fundamental element of its foreign policy and of its strategic partnership with Beijing. Pakistani governments have rejected calls for Taiwanese independence and opposed formulations such as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan".

The position has been restated at the top of the state: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have both reiterated it. Islamabad has also backed Beijing's opposition to Taiwan's participation in international bodies, opposing a proposal to invite Taiwan to the annual assembly of the World Health Organization.

The route change affects services that had been crossing Pakistani airspace on the Asia-Europe corridor, one of the busier long-haul channels for carriers based in East Asia. The reports did not say how long the restriction has been formally in place, nor whether Pakistan's civil aviation authority issued any written notification to foreign operators.