Pakistan has restored overflight rights to two Taiwanese airlines after restricting their access to its airspace for three days, according to reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. The reversal followed a public defence of the restrictions by Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, who said the decision reflected Islamabad’s commitment to Beijing’s One China policy.
On Wednesday, Pakistan issued permits allowing Taiwan-based China Airlines and EVA Air to use its airspace until 27 March 2027, the media reports said, citing official documents. The decision reversed restrictions that had forced Taiwanese carriers to divert flights travelling between Asia and Europe, with some routes redirected through Russian airspace.
Hours before reports of the restoration emerged, Asif had defended the restrictions in comments to Bloomberg. “The aviation division follows the One China policy – only mainland China is allowed,” he said. “We have permitted only Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan.”
Flight-tracking data indicated that Taiwanese airlines began rerouting flights to avoid Pakistani airspace on 25 October. On 24 October, a China Airlines flight from Taipei to Rome had travelled through Russian airspace rather than following its previous route through India, Pakistan and Turkmenistan. At least a dozen Taiwan–Europe flights subsequently took routes over Russia, according to the original report.
The restrictions marked the first reported instance of a country imposing a blanket overflight ban on Taiwanese commercial airlines explicitly on the basis of the One China principle, according to Bloomberg. Pakistan’s reported reversal came after the restrictions had drawn criticism from Taipei, which accused Islamabad of undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty and “politicizing and weaponizing airspace”, according to Taiwanese media.
The dispute reflects the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding Taiwan’s international status. Beijing regards the self-governing island as an integral part of China and seeks reunification, preferably through peaceful means, while refusing to rule out the use of force. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and maintains de facto independence, although most countries do not formally recognise it as a sovereign state.
The United States and several other Western governments maintain unofficial relations with Taipei and supply it with weapons, prompting repeated objections from Beijing. Pakistan, by contrast, has consistently supported China’s position and maintains limited engagement with Taiwan.
Islamabad established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1951 and has since developed close political, economic and military ties with Beijing. The two governments describe their relationship as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership”, and China is Pakistan’s principal arms supplier.
Pakistan’s restrictions reportedly went further than Beijing’s own aviation rules, which permit some Taiwanese airline operations in mainland Chinese airspace. The ban therefore raised questions about the extent to which Islamabad’s implementation of its diplomatic position affected ordinary commercial aviation.
Taiwanese airlines had largely avoided Russian airspace since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, although neither Moscow nor Taipei had formally prohibited them from using it. The Pakistani restrictions prompted some carriers to use Russian routes for journeys to Europe.
The dispute also follows earlier restrictions affecting Taiwan’s diplomatic travel. In April, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew overflight clearances for the aircraft of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, forcing him to postpone a visit to Eswatini, the southern African country formerly known as Swaziland. Lai eventually made the trip in May.
The reported restoration of the airlines’ permits came three days after they began avoiding Pakistani airspace and hours after Asif publicly defended the restrictions, according to the reports.
