Taiwan suspects China behind brief Pakistan airspace ban

TAIPEI - Taiwan said it suspects China was behind Pakistan briefly closing its airspace to Taiwanese airlines, Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi said, without providing evidence for the assertion.Pakistan’s move “sends a very dangerous message around the world” that Beijing can use leverage it holds to deny access to airspace, Chen said in an interview with Bloomberg TV from Taipei on Oct 29.The Chinese Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.The first Taiwanese commercial aircraft flew over Pakistan on the morning of Oct 29 following an abrupt U-turn by authorities to approve permits. The airlines had been forced to detour, including flying over Russia, since Oct 25 after Pakistan shut its airspace to Taiwanese carriers citing support of Beijing’s One-China policy. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry had condemned Pakistan’s move, slamming Islamabad for “parroting China’s distorted narrative” and weaponising access to its airspace.Chen also indicated that Taipei would cooperate with Washington – Taiwan’s biggest military and political backer – on the airspace issue. All “freedom-loving” countries will be worried about the incident, he said, and Taiwan “will work with the US closely as well as others.”While Beijing has worked to isolate Taiwan on the world stage, no country had previously said it would deny all Taiwanese carriers use of airspace. China claims Taiwan as territory that must be brought under its control – a stance Taipei rejects.China and Pakistan’s relationship has blossomed under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative that has poured billions of dollars of funding in the South Asian nation. China is the biggest lender to Pakistan, to whom it owes more than US$25 billion (S$32 billion). BLOOMBERG