No Explanation, No Announced Exercises: Why Has China Closed Its Offshore Airspace For 40 Days? Mystery Deepens As US Carrier Groups Wait In Gulf Instead Of The Pacific

CHINA AIRSPACE CLOSURE: China has also issued a notice to close some of its offshore airspace on a 40-day notice. The ruling puts a temporary limit on flight operations in identified maritime areas, which practically restricts access to major airspace segments. 

The notifications will be carried out between March 27 and May 6 as reported in The Wall Street Journal. This is a long closure that is not common and will likely affect the trends in military aviation in the region.

China’s 40-Day Airspace Closure Sparks Global Concern

Civil aviation appears to be no problem, but flights must be coordinated to fly through them. 

These notices are officially referred to as Notice to Air Missions or NOTAMs and they are usually issued to inform pilots and aviation authorities about any temporary airspace hazards or restrictions.

This time, though, there has not been any official cause or explanation as to the decision, and this has created another mystery to the aviation in the aftermath of the military flights being halted around Taiwan without prior notice. 

Ray Powell, the director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University, which monitors Chinese maritime activity, said, “It is particularly noteworthy that SFC-UNL is coupled with an unprecedented 40-day period- and no declared exercise. 

That implies not a one-time exercise but a position of operational preparedness that has to be maintained over time, and apparently, one that China does not feel the need to defend.

He continued, in case the zones are verified to be associated with exercises, the warnings would be a significant change in the utilization of airspace control as a military signalling device by Beijing. 

How will the maritime zones be affected? 

China has set aside airspace areas that are larger than the main island of Taiwan including offshore space to the north and south of Shanghai. These areas start at the Yellow Sea in South Korea to the East China Sea in Japan. Part of the Chinese military exercises conducted in the past have been intended to contain the routes that the US military can use in the event of a war with Taiwan.

“The designated airspace could be used to conduct such maneuvers that might come into play under such circumstances,” Christopher Sharman, director of the China Maritime Studies Institute of the US Naval War College stated.

The official further noted that China had taken advantage of America being occupied with the war in the Middle East to enhance its military power. In this regard, “the current designation of areas is clearly designed against Japan,” since it is aimed at making the US lose its influence in the region, the official stated.

Airspace Closure by China Near Taiwan Region Triggers Speculation Over Military Strategy

In case of any military involvement, this step would reflect a change in the strategy that China has adopted for signalling through airspace control. No statements have been made by the Defence Ministry and aviation authorities.

The designated areas cover a region larger than Taiwan, from the Yellow Sea, close to South Korea, to the East China Sea, overlooking Japan.

According to experts quoted in WSJ, such regions can enable China to conduct air combat exercises related to a potential war with Taiwan. The government of Taiwan assumes that China might increase its activity due to US preoccupation with the Middle East.

This development occurs amid important international events, such as the delay in discussions between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the expected visit of the Taiwanese Kuomintang leader, and recent US and Japanese military actions.

Trump-Xinping meeting in China

The visit of US President Donald Trump to China will take place on May 14-15. Previously, the US President’s trip to China was planned on March 31-April 2, but it got postponed due to instability in the Middle East.

Earlier in March, negotiators from Beijing and Washington held trade talks in Paris prior to their important meeting.

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