China to ban vessels from area near Taiwan over 'rocket debris'

China has said it would ban vessels from an area north of Taiwan due to the possibility of falling rocket debris, China's maritime safety administration said, without providing details.

The news comes on Thursday after Taiwan said China would impose a no-fly zone briefly on Sunday morning in a similar area that would affect around 33 flights.

China has not commented on the no-fly zone but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said the decision was made due to an object falling from a satellite launch vehicle.

Taiwan's transport minister Wang Kwo-tsai said the ministry had discussed with Japanese aviation authorities who will issue notices later on Thursday to boats and planes to avoid the area for that specific period on Sunday morning.

Wang said the ban could add "less than one hour" of extra travel time to the affected flights as they will have to divert further south from their original routes.

Japan said on Thursday it had demanded an explanation from China about the no-fly zone.

China's maritime safety administration said the restrictions would affect an area in the East China Sea on Sunday between 9 am to 3 pm (0100 GMT to 0700 GMT).

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Taiwan's transport ministry on Wednesday published a map showing what it labelled China's "aerospace activity zone" to the northeast of Taiwan and near a group of disputed islets called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan.

The development follows days of intense military drills that China has staged around Taiwan in response to President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week.

Beijing dubbed Taiwan's "secessionist activities and the ‘connivance and support from the US’ as the ‘biggest’ threat to cross-Straits peace,” a terminology to designate China-Taiwan relations.

The Taiwanese president denounced the drills and pledged to work with "the US and other like-minded countries" in the face of what she said "continued authoritarian expansionism."

Taiwan split with China in 1949 after a civil war. The Communist Party says the island is obligated to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as its territory.

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