China's remarks on direct charter flights received mixed reviews from lawmakers yesterday.
KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) painted the Chinese response as positive and urged the government to seize the opportunity to lift the ban on direct air links.
But DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (
Chang, who has floated the idea of direct charter flights to facilitate the return of Taiwanese business people in China for the Lunar New Year holiday, said he would go to China with domestic air companies next month to negotiate the matter.
He said point-to-point cross-strait charter flight services would be the best way to help Taiwanese businesspeople return to Taiwan before the opening of direct links.
Chang, a member of the KMT Central Standing Committee, made the remarks when he gave a report on his proposal at a regular meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee.
Chang said he is glad that the Cabinet has directed the Mainland Affairs Council to complete its assessment in two weeks, allowing potential passengers ample time to make preparations.
"So long as all technical questions are settled by early December, China-based Taiwanese businesspeople may fly home nonstop for the Lunar New Year next February," he said.
Chang has initiated a petition calling for point-to-point, one-way charter flights.
He said 130 colleagues from across the political spectrum have signed the petition.
Though receptive to Chang's idea, the DPP doubts China would set aside political disputes in an attempt to promote direct transport links.
Wang noted there is no bona-fide civilian agency in China, which means the talks on direct charters would inevitably involve government officials.
Also, he said the principle of reciprocity suggested by Beijing has made Chang's one-way charters infeasible.
In related news, DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) urged the government to make it easier for Chinese businessmen to stay in Taiwan in order to increase their willingness to invest in the local real-estate market.
He remarked that only one application has been filed since the government opened the market to Chinese people in August.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS