The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday denied it had sent secret a delegation to China to discuss expanding cross-strait charter flights prior to the government's recent announcement that it would further liberalize air links.
Council Deputy Chairman Liu Te-shun (
Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
The report quoted Chen as saying in an interview with the local CTI news channel on Sunday night that "the April 8-10 discussion had achieved considerable breakthroughs" on the opening of cross-strait charter cargo flights and passenger flights on weekends and holidays.
Liu yesterday denied the report.
Talks in progress
"There have been ongoing communications [between both governments] and the talks have proceeded in accordance with our designated goals. There were absolutely no secret envoys involved in our communications," Liu said.
Liu however confirmed that proxies of the two governments have engaged in "intensive" communications recently regarding the expansion of cross-strait charter flights.
The council last week called for the Chinese authorities to speed up talks on expanding cross-strait passenger charter flights and hinted that the flights would soon be expanded to include the three major Chinese festivals, including the dragon boat festival and the mid-Autumn festival, in addition to the current Lunar New Year festival charter flights.
Liu yesterday said the government had commissioned the Taipei Airlines Association, which has helped negotiate direct charter flights over previous Lunar New Year holidays, to help arrange negotiations on cross-strait cargo and passenger charter flights.
No tourists yet
In response to China's announcement on Sunday of rules for travel by its citizens to Taiwan, Liu said the measures still fell far short of what was needed for Chinese tourists to arrive in Taiwan, as Beijing had yet to add Taiwan to the list of travel destinations for its citizens.
There were still a number of inconsistencies between China's regulations and Taiwan's, such as a demand that Taiwanese travel agencies wanting to bring in Chinese tourists be approved by the Chinese authorities in advance, Liu said.
"We don't want China to announce its measures at different stages. This looks very insincere to the Taiwanese people. If they want to do it, just do it once and for all," Liu said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS