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Taiwan urged to agree to festival flights
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-03 22:42
Beijing's latest push for direct charter flights across the Taiwan Straits
has raised high hopes for immediate talks with Taipei in time for the upcoming
travel season.
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| During Spring Festival in 2003, six Taiwanese airlines operated 16
charter flights to and from the mainland for the first time since 1949.
[newsphoto] | Pu Zhaozhou, director of the Office
of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs under the General Administration of the
Civil Aviation of China, yesterday said the mainland is open to discussions
about the much-anticipated programme for Spring Festival.
He urged Taipei to take concrete measures to create conditions for the direct
charter flights to take off so as to benefit compatriots on both sides of the
Straits, especially Taiwanese business people on the mainland.
In response, Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" promptly agreed to authorize
a private group to discuss the details with related mainland bodies on the
issue.
The positive developments are believed to be favourable to the direct and
two-way charter flights during the 2005 Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on
February 9.
During Spring Festival in 2003, six Taiwanese airlines operated 16 charter
flights to and from the mainland for the first time since 1949.
The landmark programme, however, required all charter planes to transit
through a third place such as Hong Kong and Macao and completely excluded
mainland airlines.
It was finally grounded in the 2004 Spring Festival because Taipei again
refused the participation of mainland airlines and insisted on a stopover for
all charter flights.
Pu yesterday stressed flight arrangements for this year should be direct to
and from the island and be operated by airlines from both sides.
"Non-government industrial associations and airlines across the Straits can
engage in direct talks to reach a consensus and make appropriate arrangements,"
he said.
The senior official also proposed that mainland destinations for the charter
flight plan may expand to Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen. In 2003, charter
flights were run between only Taipei, Kaohsiung and Shanghai.
With only five weeks to go before Spring Festival, Pu highlighted the
importance of working out technical and business issues concerning charter
flights between airlines across the Straits.
"We hope the Taiwan authorities will consider the actual needs and well-being
of Taiwanese business people on the mainland, stop putting up hurdles, honour
their words and take concrete measures to facilitate charter flights," he said.
Taipei has been demanding government talks across the Straits to pave the way
to allow mainland airlines to operate charter flights, but Beijing proposes
non-government negotiations should solve the matter.
The island has banned direct air and shipping links with the mainland for
more than five decades, causing great inconvenience to travels of mainland-based
Taiwanese business people.
Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese businessmen and their families live and
work on the mainland and about 300,000 of them are estimated to return to the
island for family reunions every Spring Festival.
Late on Sunday, a spokesman from the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State
Council also vowed to "work hard to promote the launching of charter flights
across the Straits."
He said the mainland has noticed that some "lawmakers" and airline executives
in Taiwan have expressed their willingness to come to the mainland for talks on
charter flights.
"We welcome them to come and are willing to exchange views with them," the
spokesman said.
Taiwanese media earlier reported that John Chang, a Kuomintang "lawmaker" who
initiated the cross-Straits charter flight programme, plans to visit Beijing
this week for talks about the issue.
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