Pakistan bars Taiwanese airlines from its airspace in line with One-China policy: report

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News Desk. (2026, October 28). Pakistan bars Taiwanese airlines from its airspace in line with One-China policy: report. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2040438/pakistan-bars-taiwanese-airlines-from-its-airspace-in-line-with-one-china-policy-report

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Dawn · collected 2026-10-28 · by News Desk

Quick Summary

Pakistan has prohibited Taiwanese airlines from using its airspace to align with China’s One-China policy, making it the first country to do so. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that only mainland Chinese airlines are permitted to fly over Pakistan, leading Taiwanese carriers like China Airlines and Eva Airways to reroute their flights, adding hours and fuel costs to their Asia-to-Europe routes since October 25. The move comes as part of Pakistan’s strengthening ties with China under the Belt and Road Initiative and amid heightened geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-28, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 28, 2026, Pakistan has barred Taiwanese airlines from using its airspace in support of Beijing’s One-China policy, becoming the first country to take such a step. This move comes after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that only mainland Chinese airlines are permitted to fly over Pakistan. Taiwanese carriers like China Airlines Ltd and Eva Airways Corp began rerouting flights over the weekend, with at least a dozen flights between Asia and Europe now flying over Russia instead. This decision is stricter than China's policy, which allows Taiwanese airlines to fly within its airspace but not over Pakistan. The aviation restrictions highlight the geopolitical tensions surrounding Taiwan’s international presence and China’s stance on sovereignty.

Written for “Pakistan Bars Taiwanese Airlines” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly right (beta estimate) Confidence high 2 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans strongly right for article 111658 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-28

Story

📰 Pakistan Bars Taiwanese Airlines
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
22%
5 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
72/100
Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2354 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

News Desk
321 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Their defence ties drew international attention during the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, when Pakistan used Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets.
🔮 “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the statement read, adding that a relentless counterterrorism campaign under the vision “Azm e Istehkam” will continue at full pace to “wipe out [the] menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.
🔮 “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the statement read, adding that a relentless counterterrorism campaign under the vision “Azm e Istehkam” will continue at full pace to “wipe out [the] menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.
🔮 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned on Wednesday the latest instance of firing from across the Afghan border in Lower South Waziristan, asserting that Pakistan would “never tolerate” attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty.
🔮 “Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir remains clear, consistent and principled,” he said, adding that lasting peace and stability in South Asia could not be achieved without a just and peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
🔮 “Disinformation and misleading narratives will neither obscure the threat posed by the terrorist networks operating from Afghan territory nor absolve the Afghan Taliban regime of its responsibility to prevent Afghan soil from being used to plan and launch attacks against Pakistan,” the FO said, adding that attacks emanating from Afghan soil had claimed more than 3,500 casualties in 2026.
🔮 He said that if there were cases against Afridi, action would be taken against him and he would be indicted.
🔮 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Sunday that the government would be distributing 500,000 chromebooks to students across the country over the course of two years.
🔮 “Attempts to portray Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and necessary defensive measures as hostility towards Afghanistan will neither deflect attention from the issue nor resolve it,” it stressed.
🔮 PTI on Saturday clarified that MNA Junaid Akbar remains the party’s provincial president, but Senator Noorul Haq Qadri will preside over the party meetings in the former’s absence.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by News Desk
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 321 articles by News Desk →

Topics

Beijing China Pakistan Taiwan Taiwanese

Subjects

Pakistan GPE · 13× China GPE · 10× Taiwan GPE · 7× Taiwanese NORP · 4× Beijing GPE · 3× China Airlines ORG · 2× Chinese NORP · 2× Eva Air ORG · 2× Russia GPE · 2× Bloomberg ORG · 1×

Narrative

Taiwanese airlines had avoided Russian airspace since February 2022, in line with many Asian, European and North American carriers, although they were never formally barred from using it, the report said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-28
🔮 Their defence ties drew international attention during the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, when Pakistan used Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets.

Claims (23 extracted, 5 hedged)

Pakistan has barred Taiwanese airlines from using its airspace in support of Beijing’s One-China policy, becoming the first country to take such a step, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. asserted
Bloomberg → bar → Wednesday
“The aviation division follows the One China policy — only mainland China is allowed,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg News. asserted
Asif → follow → News
“We have permitted only Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan,” he said. asserted
he → permit → Pakistan
Taiwanese carriers began rerouting flights over the weekend, with China Airlines Ltd and Eva Airways Corp no longer flying over Pakistan since the morning of Oct 25, according to flight-tracking data cited by the report. uncertain
Ltd → begin → report
At least a dozen flights operated by the two airlines between Asia and Europe have flown over Russia since Sunday, according to Flightradar24 data. uncertain
flights → operate → data
China Airlines and Eva Air declined to comment, while Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration did not comment on the rerouting. asserted
Administration → decline → rerouting
It said, however, that it had never banned carriers from flying over Russia. asserted
it → say → Russia
Pakistan’s restrictions are stricter than those imposed by mainland China, which allows Taiwanese airlines to fly over its territory, the publication added. asserted
publication → impose → territory
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory. asserted
Taiwan → consider → territory
Pakistan severed official relations with Taiwan in 1951 in favour of closer ties with China. asserted
Pakistan → sever → China
It remains unclear what prompted Pakistan’s decision. uncertain
what → remain → decision
Airspace restrictions, however, can intensify during periods of heightened geopolitical tensions, the report said. asserted
report → intensify → tensions
Pakistan and China have strengthened ties under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has channelled billions of dollars into Pakistan. asserted
which → strengthen → Pakistan
The two countries also maintain close military cooperation, with China being Pakistan’s largest supplier of weapons. asserted
China → maintain → weapons
Their defence ties drew international attention during the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, when Pakistan used Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets. uncertain
Pakistan → draw → jets
Taiwanese airlines had avoided Russian airspace since February 2022, in line with many Asian, European and North American carriers, although they were never formally barred from using it, the report said. asserted
report → avoid → it
The rerouting has added hours to flights between Asia and Europe and increased fuel costs. asserted
rerouting → add → costs
China Airlines and Eva Air are also routing aircraft over other parts of South Asia and the Middle East, adding to journey times. asserted
Airlines → rout → times
Pakistan has repeatedly reaffirmed its support for China on the Taiwan issue. asserted
Pakistan → reaffirm → issue
On Jan 3, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad would continue to adhere to the One-China principle and regard Taiwan as an “inalienable part of China”. asserted
Islamabad → say → China
He described Pakistan and China as “iron-clad friends and all-weather strategic cooperative partners”. asserted
He → describe → friends
The statement came after China completed military drills around Taiwan in early January, including live-fire exercises aimed at simulating a blockade of key ports and assaults on maritime targets. asserted
China → come → targets
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory, while Taipei rejects the claim. uncertain
Taipei → claim → claim
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