Opposition lawmakers urged the government to accelerate the opening direct of links as the first charter flight between Taiwan and China in 54 years returned to Taipei yesterday.
DPP and TSU lawmakers, however, did not see the charter flights as the start of direct links opening, although some DPP lawmakers suggested that the government move in this direction.
"The meaning of these charter flights is significant. They may give the government an example of how to proceed with direct links," said KMT Legislator Lee Chia-chin (
"The government should thoroughly review its direct-links policy. Before the government opens direct links, it should continue approving domestic airlines' applications to operate charter flights between Taiwan and China," Lee said.
According to Lee, the government should allow charter flights on other significant holidays and permit carriers to fly to major centers in China.
Lee added that the KMT caucus will propose adding a direct links section to the Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (
PFP Legislator Chung Shao-ho (
"The government should put aside its political considerations," Chung said.
Another PFP lawmaker, Chiu Yi (
"The realization of the charter flights allows the possibility of direct links," Chiu added.
However, DPP legislative whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the charter flights are simply a "temporary measure."
"The charter flights are not the government's first step toward direct links," Chen said.
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said the flights do not have much significance, but added that direct links would help the economy in the long term.
"Direct links is the way Taiwan will have to go," Lee said.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) also urged the government to start talks with China.
"Many Taiwanese businessmen in China believe direct links are impossible. Some of them have decided not to return to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year," Chang said.
TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yung (
"Less than 40 percent of the seats offered on the charter flights have been filled. TSU lawmakers will refuse to back a direct links act if it does not give Taiwan and China equal status," Huang said.
Meanwhile, the six airlines which obtained permission to operate the charter flights see the flights as an opportunity to gain access to the Chinese market.
TransAsia Airways chairman Tony Fan (
EVA Airways president Steve Lin (林寶水), Mandarin Airlines president Mike Lo (樂大信) and UniAir president Cheng Kuang-yuan (鄭光遠) also planned to go on their companies' first charters to China.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
RSS