Bloomberg reported that Pakistan at one point refused Taiwanese airlines access to its airspace, citing a one-China policy, and later restored access. Taiwan's Executive Yuan responded on October 29, saying it highly regretted Pakistan's move.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Lee Hui-chih said the government highly regretted that Pakistan followed China, disregarded international norms, affected flight safety and politicized airspace. The Ministry of Transportation said it would stay in contact with carriers and provide assistance, and the report also noted the Foreign Ministry's earlier condemnation of the politicization of airspace.
The report added that Pakistan initially allowed only Chinese carriers to overfly its airspace, and hours later its civil aviation authority approved China Airlines and EVA Air to use its airspace from October 28 to March 27 next year. The transport ministry and civil aviation authority said they would stay in close contact, provide necessary assistance and monitor route developments; the October 28 to March 27 period is the winter schedule, routes are applied for quarterly, and reapplying for the summer schedule next March is common international practice. Lee added that the national security and foreign affairs teams were aware of the situation and would respond appropriately, respecting carriers' choices of routes based on safety, time and cost, and that the Foreign Ministry had sternly condemned the move on October 28 and reiterated that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other.