In light of the recent trip to China by some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials, the government yesterday took measures to hold semi-official negotiations on the details of cross-strait charter flights for the upcoming Lunar New Year with Beijing, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a press release yesterday.
"Authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait understand that cross-strait charter flights will depend on negotiations between government-authorized representatives," the statement said, explicitly taking moves to hold China to semi-official negotiations for the first time since the government announced its willingness to see direct, round trip flights by both Taiwanese and Chinese airline carriers.
Both governments had previously given the green light to discussing the details of the charter flights in accordance with the recently dubbed "Hong Kong model." Under this model, business representatives from both Taiwan and China hold talks while the government is given a supervisory role.
The council's calls for semi-official negotiations comes just one day after Beijing's top cross-strait policymaker Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) director Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) extended an invitation to the Taipei Airlines Association to discuss charter flights for the holiday. The association was officially authorized by the government to conduct negotiations with Chinese authorities last month.
While the MAC has been tight-lipped regarding the charter flights, the statement issued yesterday seemed geared towards preventing the opposition party, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), from stealing the government's thunder.
The KMT sent a delegation to Beijing last week and on Monday held a press conference in Beijing announcing the breakthroughs they had attained while meeting with Chen. The delegation had not been officially authorized by the government to handle cross-strait charter flights.
While the statement states the MAC's gratitude to the KMT delegation, it stressed that talks had to be conducted by authorized representatives.
MAC Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san (
"In order for sincerity and good will to translate into actual results, there needs to be semi-official talks. China knows that we've authorized the Taipei Airlines Association ... as a result, even if someone talks a big game, I think everyone knows whether it is meaningful or not," Chiu said without naming the KMT specifically.
The council also reiterated yesterday that it had long been ready and willing to cooperate on direct, reciprocal flights, and that it had already approved the establishing of new routes if necessary.
The KMT delegation on Monday said that at its proposal, China had indicated a willingness to forge air links between Taiwan and Beijing, Xiamen, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
The one-time success of cross-strait charter flights in February 2003 involved indirect flights between Taiwan and Shanghai only.
The charter flights have in recent years come under public scrutiny as a service to the half million taishang, or China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, who return home for the holidays, but the flights have taken on important political significance as both an indicator of the state of cross-strait ties and as a forerunner for long term direct passenger and cargo flights.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
RSS