Taipei  - Taiwan's Defence Ministry cited security concerns Monday in rejecting China's call to open restricted airspace over the Taiwan Strait to address growing passenger demand.

"Before the Chinese communists formally renounce the use of force against Taiwan and put aside their military deployments targeting us, it is unlikely we would change the current flight routes," said the ministry in a statement.

The statement came after Beijing proposed late last week that Taiwan allow planes to fly over its restricted airspace, to increase the cross-strait flights and meet the growing passenger demand.

Taiwan and China, rivals since of a civil war in 1949, launched direct flights on July 4 last year as relations thawed. They later agreed to increase the number of direct flights from 108 to 270 a week. But industry officials say it is not enough to cope with the surging demand.

Wang Yi, director of the mainland's State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, recently called on the island to allow cross-strait flights over the restricted zone to increase the number of routes.

But the Defence Ministry rejected the request, saying the zone located over the central part of the Taiwan Strait is for training of the Taiwanese air force.

According to the ministry, the restricted zone gives its air force more time and space to react in the event of a cross-strait conflict.(dpa)