Is It a Big Deal That US Planes Are Flying over Us? Here’s What You Should Know

Published in UDN
(Taiwan) on 11 June 2020
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Pinyu Hwang. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
On the morning of June 9, the media reported that a U.S. Army C-40 transport aircraft flew into Taiwanese airspace, and it was even speculated that it landed in Taipei Songshan Airport or Taichung International Airport. Although it was later clarified that the U.S. aircraft was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, heading south in a "vertical line" with no plan for landing, this has still stirred up excitement among many netizens and politicians, who saw it as another breakthrough in military cooperation between Taiwan and the United States. A large number of viewers tuned in to listen to well-known talk show hosts discuss the flyover, bringing in a fortune in ad revenue.

But is all that really the case? In the past couple of years, news about the flight paths of these kinds of aircraft has appeared extensively on community websites and in the media. The question is, why?

Modern aircraft are all equipped with transponders, which transmit identification information during flights to facilitate tracking by air traffic control centers and for identification of potential threats. Generally, military aircraft missions are more sensitive, with little information that is disclosed to the public. Civil aviation does not have similar concerns, as the advancement of the technology of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, known as ADS-B, in modern passenger aircraft can continuously broadcast information such as an aircraft number, flight number, departure destination, real-time position, speed and altitude to the outside world. Since the signals are not limited to air traffic control units, some have seen it as a business opportunity, linking up with enthusiasts from around the world to set up receivers and publish air traffic updates on websites for public viewing.

The C-40 is basically a Boeing 737, which is used by the U.S. military for administrative transportation of personnel. Taiwan’s armed forces include a special squadron for a similar purpose. This commercial type model is equipped with ADS-B, but depending on the situation, will only allow transmission of part of the content. The aircraft used by Taiwan's president, for example, is also a 737. Normally, the public has no access to the complete travel information for the plane, but the aircraft has previously been spotted by media on flight-tracking websites, circling over the sea off the east coast of Taiwan. It turned out that it was a test flight after an overhaul, and since there were no issues of confidentiality, the ADS-B system was turned on for testing. Under usual circumstances, only a small fraction of information is released to the public due to the sensitive nature of the head of state's missions.

Back to the main topic, the U.S. Army C-40 was heading from the Kadena Air Base in the Ryukyu Islands to the U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand. Relevant ADS-B information was listed in plain view on the web, with an indication that it was a general personnel transport operation, with no special sensitive issues. In general, one would fly from the east of Taiwan into the airspace over Cape Eluanbi, then turn left and fly to the South China Sea. This time, however, the aircraft entered at the northeast corner of Taiwan and flew south along the western part of the island. This was likely because the Taiwanese military was firing live in the airspace above the sea off Hualien (located on the east coast of Taiwan), prompting the U.S. craft to take a diversionary route over the Taiwanese island.

Does the flight path of the U.S. Army's administrative aircraft over Taiwan represent a breakthrough in the relationship between the two nations? The answer is no. For decades, U.S. officials such as U.S. senators and House representatives have been visiting Taiwan on military jets, C-40s, and other administrative aircraft, appearing in Taipei Songshan Airport enough times that this is no longer news. Indeed, it would be far-fetched to say that such a "flying over" is a breakthrough.

This incident of "the U.S. military transport aircraft flying over Taiwan," though of no special significance on a factual level, continues to be a focus of news media, and is having a disproportionate impact on public audiences. Much of this must be attributed to the ecosystem of domestic news and media. The reading public is interested in military news, but often has little knowledge of the workings of the military. Furthermore, due to the confidential and sensitive nature of this type of information, it is not easy for the consumers and writers of such news to distinguish between truth and falsehood. They often not only express their own views, but come up with idiosyncratic interpretations about the shapes of what lies below the tip of the iceberg based on their own political inclinations. In this era of real-time online news, the media are like terriers chasing after a toy rabbit. As long as someone starts running, no one else will pause to think about consequences, and they don’t care if what they are chasing after is outrageous or not. Let's first click “subscribe.”

The C-40 incident may have only been a misunderstanding, but there are many other examples of governments and political powers that have discovered the enormous propaganda value of exposing information anonymously in this era where social media is dominant. While the information thrown onto the internet may not necessarily be false in itself, it is clear that, like a blind man touching an elephant and asked to describe it, each person has access to only a small part of the whole. It is human nature to summarize and piece together known information, but when the sources of information are limited and most likely to have been filtered many times, there is a big question mark as to whether or not the "complete picture" presented through this process is the actual picture.

Thus, a not unusual choice of flight path was seen as evidence of warming relations between Taiwan and the United States. Is this merely just a misunderstanding, or is it an opportunity for someone to create an impression in the public's mind to advance some self-interest? We may never know the answer.

Welcome to this mysterious, fascinating world, filled with lies and half-truths. No one can get through this maze of interwoven truths and falsehoods without making a mistake; the only way to increase our chances of remaining "unfooled" is to enrich our own knowledge, strengthen our logical thinking skills and not be dictated to by all the preconceived notions out there.





前日上午各媒體報導,一架美軍C-40運輸機正飛入台灣領空,甚至傳出降落松山或清泉崗。雖然事後證實,美機是在四萬呎高空,一路「縱貫線」南下,未曾降落,但仍足讓不少網民與政客興奮,認為是台美軍事合作再獲突破的例證。接下來的電視談話節目,名嘴們更藉此撈到一筆車馬費。

然而,事實是否當真如此?近一兩年,這類飛機航行軌跡的消息,大量在社群網站與媒體出現,為什麼?

現代飛機都有「詢答器」(transponder),飛行途中發送身分資訊,以利航管單位追蹤,或是識別敵我身分。一般而言,軍機任務較敏感,對外透露的資訊較少;民航界沒有類似顧慮,現代客機的進階版詢答器ADS-B(「自動相關監視廣播」縮寫),可把機號、航班號、起訖地點、即時位置、速度、高度等資訊,不斷對外廣播傳出。由於訊號不限航管單位才收得到,業者看到商機,便串連各地發燒友架設接收器,在網站公布空中交通動態供人查閱。

C-40其實就是波音737客機,美軍用於人員行政運輸,角色和國軍的專機中隊一樣。這類商規機種當然有ADS-B,但會視情況只開啟部分內容。例如我國總統專機也是737,平日網友無法看到完整行蹤資訊,先前卻被媒體在網站發現,在東部外海上空不斷兜圈。原來當時是大修出廠試飛,沒有機密性,因此打開系統測試;平日搭載元首任務敏感,就僅對外釋放少數資訊。

回到主題,當天這架美軍C-40,是由琉球嘉手納基地飛往泰國烏打拋基地,相關ADS-B資訊在網站上一覽無遺,顯示是一般人員運輸業務,沒有特殊機敏性。一般情況下,應由台灣東方飛到鵝鑾鼻上空,再左轉飛往南海,這次卻由東北角「登陸」,再沿台灣西部一路南飛,原因應是國軍正在花蓮外海空域實彈射擊,才繞道改走本島上空。

美軍行政專機的航路,選擇飛越台灣上空,是否代表雙方關係突破?答案也不是。幾十年來,美國參眾議員等政要訪台,通常搭乘軍方專機,C-40或其他行政機現身松山機場,其實不是新聞。要說「飛越」就是突破,實在牽強。

「美軍運輸機飛越台灣」事件,雖然在事實層面沒有特殊意義,卻一度成為新聞焦點,對大眾視聽發揮不成比例的影響。這很大因素必須「歸功」國內媒體生態:閱聽大眾對軍事新聞感興趣,但往往對軍事知識一知半解,更因相關資訊的機密性與敏感性,看新聞的人或寫新聞的人,對各式消息不易辨別其中真假。往往不僅各自表述,還常依據本身的立場傾向,對在海平面下的冰山形狀恣意「腦補」。在網路即時新聞的時代,媒體更宛如追逐兔子模型的競賽犬,只要有人帶頭起步開跑,其他人不管三七廿一,管它離譜不離譜,先跟進再說。

C-40事件似乎是一場烏龍,但從許多其他例子,卻可看到各國政府或政治勢力,已經發現在社群網站當道時代,藉由匿名身分揭露資訊,所能發揮的巨大宣傳價值。這些在網路上被拋出的資訊,本身未必虛假,但正如瞎子摸象,每人所能接觸到的,只是整體的一小部分。對已知的資訊進行歸納拼湊,這是人情之常,但在已知資訊來源有限、更可能是被篩選釋出的情況下,藉此反推出的「全般面貌」是否真正面貌,恐怕要打上一個大問號。

因此,一場並不特別的航線選擇,卻被視為台美關係升溫證據,真的只是單純烏龍,還是有心人趁機在大眾心目中製造印象?答案可能永遠也不會揭曉。

歡迎來到神祕迷人,又充滿各種謊言的情報世界。沒人能在這個真假難辨的迷宮裡不犯錯,然而多充實知識學能,強化邏輯思維,不被既定印象主宰判斷,卻是提升「不受人惑」機率的唯一法門。
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