MAC denies forcing airlines to avoid China

New Party lawmaker Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) yesterday accused the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of subjecting Taiwan's airlines to what he called a "Green terror " by asking them to cooperate with the government by not applying for the right to fly across China's territorial air space.

MAC chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) strongly denied the accusation, which Fung made at a meeting in the Legislative Yuan. She said that the airlines had not applied for the route because they had no need to do so.

In October last year, following the US attacks on Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, the legislature passed a resolution calling on the government to allow airlines to apply for the right to fly over Chinese territorial air space if the airlines believed it necessary to do so in order to avoid the war zone around Afghanistan in the interest of flight safety.

Legislative resolutions are not constitutionally binding on the government but as a matter of convention the executive branch generally abides by such resolutions.

Fung said, however, no airline had applied for the right, "because the MAC put pressure on them."

Tsai rejected the accusation, saying that the airlines had not applied for the right to use Chinese air space because there was insufficient economic advantage to be gained from so doing.

"At the meeting we had with the airlines, they expressed no need for the route," she said.

Only services to Europe provided by China Airlines (華航) and EVA airlines (長榮航空) have been affected by the war in Afghanistan. According to Lin Lin-san (林陵三), vice minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, these airlines had redirected their routes in a southerly direction in order to avoid the war zone.

As far as economic advantage is concerned, China Airlines' president, Christine T.Y. Tsung (宗才怡), said that flying through Chinese air space would would reduce current flight times by only 15 minutes.

EVA airlines chief executive vice president Lin Bou-shiu (林寶水) confirmed Tsung's view, and said, "We have no actual need for route L888 right now."

L888 is the international code number for the route across Chinese air space Fung had in mind.

Fung said that some airline staff he had talked to said that the government had pressured the airlines. He declined to substantiate the remark but, nevertheless, insisted that there must have been some pressure from the MAC to prevent airlines applying for the route.

But Tsai said, "The objective facts make everything clear. The MAC fully respects the airlines' decisions."