Pakistan Closes Airspace to Taiwanese Carriers in Unprecedented Move Aligned With Beijing
Pakistan has become the first country in the world to ban Taiwanese airlines from overflying its airspace in support of the “One China” policy. The government mandate forces Taiwanese carriers to reroute Asia–Europe services onto longer flight paths through Russian airspace.
Under this principle, Beijing maintains that there is only one China, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, and that the People’s Republic of China serves as the sole legitimate government.
Speaking to Bloomberg News, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed the measure: “The aviation division follows the One China policy; mainland China is the only one allowed. We have only cleared Chinese carriers to overfly Pakistan.”
Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 23 million people, rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and maintains de facto independence, even though only 12 countries—mostly small developing nations such as Belize and Tuvalu—maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Impact on Asia–Europe Routes: Diversions via Russia
The government confirmation follows reports from aviation trackers who detected operational shifts and extended flight tracks on Taiwanese services over the weekend, designed to circumvent Pakistani airspace.
- China Airlines Case: On October 24, a China Airlines flight operating between Taipei and Rome altered its standard flight profile—which previously routed through India, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan—to fly entirely through Russian airspace, according to flight-tracking data from Flightradar24.
- Affected Flights: At least a dozen Asia–Europe city pairs operated by Taiwanese carriers have been forced to re-file flight plans routing over Russian territory.
This development introduces fresh operational complexity for Taiwanese airlines, which were already barred from overflying mainland Chinese airspace due to political tensions.
Furthermore, while numerous international carriers have voluntarily avoided Russian airspace since February 2022, Taiwanese operators have had to leverage this routing to maintain viable connectivity with the European continent in the wake of the Pakistani ban.
Geopolitical Context and Islamabad–Beijing Strategic Ties
The decision underscores the deep strategic alliance between Islamabad and Beijing. Pakistan was among the earliest nations to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1951, forging a political, economic, and strategic partnership frequently characterized by both governments as “all-weather”.
Unlike the United States and other nations that maintain robust unofficial ties with Taiwan, Islamabad maintains strictly limited contact with Taipei and firmly opposes Taiwanese independence. This stance was reaffirmed on January 2 by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which reiterated that Taiwan is an “inalienable part” of China and underscored its full commitment to the “One China” principle.
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