US Lawmakers Urge UN Org to Oppose China's Flight Route Extension Near Taiwan

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday urged the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization to oppose China's decision to unilaterally extend a flight route in the Taiwan Strait.

"This action places civilian aircraft dangerously close to Taiwan-administered airspace," said the letter signed by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., who chairs a House select committee on China and the panel's ranking Democrat Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.

They added that the "unilateral changes disregard international aviation procedures and ICAO's own standards, which emphasize the importance of coordination and risk mitigation in shared airspace."