Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen, right, speaks at a forum organized by the Cross-Strait Policy Association in Taipei yesterday in reaction to China’s unilateral changes in its use of the M503 flight route.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times

China’s move to launch northbound commercial flights on the M503 route compromises the integrity of Taiwan’s airspace, and the nation should reduce cross-strait flights to force negotiations with China while increasing its defense budget and develop asymmetric defense capabilities, academics said yesterday.