Holier Than Beijing: Why Is Islamabad Out-Chinaing China?
\n\nSince the morning of October 25, two airlines have quietly disappeared from Pakistan’s skies. China Airlines and EVA Air, Taiwan’s two big long-haul carriers, stopped crossing Pakistani airspace, according to flight-tracking data from Flightradar24. At least a dozen of their Asia–Europe flights have since taken the long way round – over Russia, airspace Taiwanese carriers had voluntarily avoided since February 2022.
\n\nIslamabad didn’t bother with diplomatic fog. “The aviation division follows the One China policy, only mainland China is allowed,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg News. “We have permitted only Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan.”
\n\nNow for the delicious part. China itself, the country whose claim over Taiwan Pakistan is so keen to defend, still lets Taiwanese airlines fly over its own territory. Pakistan reportedly is the first country anywhere to impose such a ban. Beijing set the policy. Islamabad decided to out-Beijing Beijing.
\n\nWhy would a cash-strapped state pick a fight nobody publicly asked it to pick? Islamabad hasn’t said, and even Pakistan’s own press concedes the trigger remains unclear. The numbers offer a clue. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China supplied about 80 per…
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world
