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.
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