Photo:Xinhua

Xiamen Airlines announced on Tuesday adjustments to dozens of its flights in and out of airports in East China's Fujian Province, citing air traffic control. Most of the adjustments involved changed departure and landing times rather than cancellation.  

While specific reasons behind the widespread flight adjustments remain unclear, tensions are flaring in the Taiwan Straits over a possible visit by US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi against firm opposition from both China and certain quarters of the US government. 

Fujian is in close proximity to the island of Taiwan, with the city of Xiamen just about 300 kilometers away from the island.

At around 11 am on Tuesday, Xiamen Airlines announced adjustments to 30 flights. By 2 pm, the airline made an update with adjustments to a total of 50 flights, according to a list posted on the airline's official website. All the adjustments were time changes.

"Affected by flow control, Xiamen Airlines adjusted some flights on August 2," the airline said, adding that flight adjustments will be continuously updated. 

The adjusted routes mainly involved flights in and out of cities in Northeastern China to Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian Province. Flights from Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Urumqi in Northwest China's Xinjiang region and North China's Tianjin Municipality were also partially adjusted.

Meanwhile, some domestic flights that regularly use the southeast coastal route were shifted to inland routes, domestic financial news site yicai.com reported, citing information from aviation information platform Flightradar24.

As of 11:50 am, airports in Fujian's Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and South China's Guangdong Province's Jieyang recorded the lowest normal-discharging rates among major airports in China, the report said, noting that flight cancelation rates remain relatively high in many airports amid a summer peak season.

Global and regional attention has been focused on the possible visit by Pelosi, which the US politician has not publically confirmed. But several US media reports have suggested that Pelosi is expected to visit the island.

China has expressed firm opposition against a possible visit by Pelosi to the island and vowed strong countermeasures if the US politician goes ahead with the visit, which is a first by a speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years and a serious provocation against China. 

In response to a question about what countermeasures China will take if Pelosi insists on visiting the island, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that "what I can tell you is that the US will be held responsible and pay the price for hurting China's sovereignty and security interests."

Global Times