Blackburn, Peters, Moolenaar, Krishnamoorthi Urge ICAO to Oppose Chinese Communist Party’s Attempt to Undermine Taiwan’s Role in Global Aviation

August 22, 2025

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and U.S. Representatives John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who serve as Chairman and Ranking Member on the House Select Committee on China, sent a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) unilateral move to fully open a third extension of the M503 flight route in the Taiwan Strait:

CCP’s New Flight Route Extension in Taiwan Strait Escalates Tensions and Endangers Civilians 

“This brazen action—which has been years in the making—provokes regional instability in the Indo-Pacific and clearly demonstrates a disregard for international order and the potential dangerous civilian consequences of this decision. We urge the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to clarify its opposition to unilateral changes in international flight route use without coordinating with regional stakeholders and to ensure that the Republic of China (Taiwan) can meaningfully participate as a guest in the upcoming 42nd ICAO Assembly, and in appropriate ICAO technical meetings, to help prevent adverse consequences of the PRC’s action and represent the operations and interests of the Taipei Flight Information Region.”

Chinese Communist Party Violated Mutual Agreement with Taiwan

“The PRC first opened the M503 flight route, running north-south over the Taiwan Strait, in 2015 in a southbound direction in close 4.2 nautical mile proximity to the median line that unofficially separates Taiwan’s airspace from mainland China’s. At the time, Beijing assured the international community that the route would be used in a limited fashion and that it would maintain good communication and cooperation with Taiwan in the future on issues related to the operation of M503. However, on July 6, 2025, Beijing announced that it had activated the W121 extension connecting Dongshan in China’s Zhejiang province to M503 without prior notice or coordination with Taiwan, and in violation of previous assurances.” 

ICAO Must Recognize and Defend Taiwan’s Critical Role in Global Aviation

“This action places civilian aircraft dangerously close to Taiwan-administered airspace and creates potential conflict points with east-west routes operated under the Taipei Flight Information Region, which handles over 1.85 million flights annually. Such unilateral changes disregard international aviation procedures and ICAO’s own standards, which emphasize the importance of coordination and risk mitigation in shared airspaces. This is especially troubling in light of the fact that Taiwan continues to be barred from meaningful participation in ICAO despite its critical role in global aviation. As the world’s 11th-largest aviation market and home to Taoyuan International Airport—a key transit hub in East Asia— Taiwan’s absence from ICAO meetings and decision making undermines global aviation safety. This exclusion is not due to performance or capability deficiencies, but rather it is a direct result of relentless political pressure from the PRC. The exclusion of a vital airspace manager out of deference to the political pressure of the PRC, an actor that regularly demonstrates malign intent, jeopardizes not just regional security, but global aviation standards more broadly. As an organization tasked with ensuring the safety, security, and efficiency of international civil aviation, ICAO must not remain silent. We urge you to publicly state that ICAO does not support unilateral changes to international flight routes that impact regional safety. Additionally, we urge you to include Taiwan in the upcoming 42nd ICAO Assembly as a guest and technical participant.”

Click here to read the full letter. 

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