Because Taiwan and China had reached a consensus on negotiating terms for direct charter flights during the Lunar New Year holiday, technical problems would be ironed out with further talks, the Cabinet said yesterday.
"I believe that practical negotiations over direct charter flights for Lunar New Year will bear fruit, and that both sides will eventually hammer out a mutually acceptable solution," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
"Our stance on the matter is clear, and that's mutual respect and practical negotiations," he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council has organized for the Taipei Airlines Association (TAA) to represent the government in negotiations with Beijing.
Because the China Civil Aviation Association had sent a letter to the head of the TAA inviting him to discuss details of any agreement, Chen said he felt that Beijing would not use the status of the negotiators to oppose the flights.
Chen was speaking yesterday morning after China demanded that government officials be banned from attending the talks between aviation authorities.
This year, one of the TAA board members is Billy Chang (
When asked to describe the status of this year's TAA negotiators, Chen said they were "entrusted by the government to act as representatives in negotiating the matter."
Unchanged
Chen also affirmed the government's principles for negotiation and said that they were still in force.
"We adopted the `two-way, multiple-destination and non-stop' principles for charter flights for the Lunar New Year holiday in November, and this has remained in place unchanged since then," he said.
"Basically, what the Chinese government proposes is similar to what we have initiated. Even if there are differences, both sides should sit down and talk about them," he said.
China has ruled out the participation of Taiwan's cross-strait officials in negotiating direct flights, saying both sides' airlines could settle on the precise details themselves.
Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday held a press conference explaining its position.
"It is inappropriate for officials from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation to join negotiations," said He Shizhong (
Rejecting Taiwan's appeal for official negotiations, He said the request was "unrealistic."
But He did not indicate that officials from other government agencies would be prevented from joining negotiations.
Model
The Mainland Affairs Council has insisted that talks be based on the negotiating model for an aviation agreement between Taiwan and Hong Kong in 2002, in which the TAA headed a delegation composed of aviation leaders, council officials and Civil Aeronautics Administration personnel acting as advisors.
Asked by reporters whether Billy Chang could join the negotiations as an advisor, He said, "we can communicate on this," without elaborating.
He said that these direct flights had nothing to do with any previous air-transportation agreements.
"The flights are a special arrangement made to facilitate trips home for the large number of China-based Taiwanese businessmen and compatriots for the Lunar New Year," he said.
The airlines could communicate on technical problems and details of the flights without government involvement, he said.
"This is the most efficient and practical way of preparing for the implementation of the flights," He said.
Pu Zhaozhou (浦照洲), an official with the China Civil Aviation Association, said it would be easier for the airlines to discuss the exact details between themselves.
"There would be no comments from laymen cropping up during negotiations," Pu added.
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen are proposed departure points for the flights, He said, and urged Taiwan to open airports in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung to receive them.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
ALLIANCE: Washington continues to implement its policy of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan and helps enhance its defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide US$571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the US State Department approved the potential sale of US$265 million in military equipment. Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to US$571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement. However, it did not provide specific details about this latest package, which was the third of its kind to
RSS