Taiwan is willing to negotiate with China about reducing border restrictions in a mutually respectful dialogue, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remark at a Straits Exchange Foundation Lunar New Year event for Taiwanese entrepreneurs conducting business in China.
Bilateral interactions should resume as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, so long as safeguards for public health are in place, she said.
Photo: CNA
Beijing has requested Taiwan’s cooperation in reopening 16 points of entry for air travel across the Strait, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday, adding that travel between the two sides should return to its pre-pandemic status.
Tsai said that Taipei and Beijing are equally responsible for good cross-strait relations, and that she is always open to respectful dialogue.
Taiwan is considering Beijing’s proposal, but needs the Chinese government to provide accurate data about the spread of COVID-19 in China, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) told reporters on the sidelines of the foundation’s event.
Taiwan would like to work with China on the matter, and government agencies are evaluating whether the conditions permit a resumption of normal air travel, Chiu said.
Transparency about the spread of the virus in China would make Taipei more amenable to Beijing’s proposal, he added.
Fluctuations in the severity of China’s COVID-19 outbreak and the difficulties involved in navigating pandemic restrictions imposed by local Chinese governments have made Taiwanese airlines hesitant to schedule flights to a number of cities in China, he said.
China’s sudden cancelation of more than 70 percent of flights bound for Guangzhou in October last year is one example Chiu cited as a major inconvenience experienced by airlines and travelers.
Ten Taiwanese and 51 Chinese points of entry were being utilized before the pandemic, and only four are open at present, he said.
The MAC is working toward maintaining the so-called “small three links” which have enabled some Taiwanese and Chinese to travel through ports on a few of Taiwan’s outlying islands, Chiu said.
The links via Kimen and Lienchiang counties remained open through the Lunar New Year by means of a special dispensation the legislature passed on Dec. 22 last year, but is set to expire on Feb 20.
The MAC’s goal is to extend the special act, which more than 2,600 travelers have utilized since the reopening, Chiu said.
The percentage of travelers who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 has dropped steadily from 19 percent on the first day of the program to 2 percent at present, which is an encouraging sign for safe travel across the Strait, he said.
The MAC is to confer with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Epidemic Command Center before making a decision, he said.
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