A day after the first Chinese New Year Taipei-Shanghai round-trip charter flights received official approval, KMT lawmaker John Chang (章孝嚴), the prime mover behind the scheme, announced his intention to push for a follow-up program for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival or next year's Lunar New Year.
But, Chang said, next time it would be "necessary" for Chinese airlines to operate some of the charter services. He also said that the plan envisages no stops in Hong Kong or Macau and that the flights should also serve China's southern city of Guangzhou
"We want to push for another charter flight service during the Mid-Autumn Festival or next year's Chinese New Year holidays. But this time, Chinese airline companies should be allowed to participate in the operation," said Chang at a news conference held yesterday.
Chang was speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Taiwan Businessmen in China, a foundation he established in 2001 to assist Taiwanese businessmen in China.
But chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Tsai Ing-wen
Chang, who initiated the proposal for charter flights to bring China-based Taiwanese businessmen home this coming Lunar New Year, reminded reporters that Chinese officials had informed him that Chinese airlines desired to operate some of the flights.
But Chang added that, from his experience discussing the current charter flight proposal with Chinese officials, he believed that "if a further program of cross-strait charter services is to materialize, Chinese airlines' participation as operators of some of the services will be necessary."
The participation by Chinese airlines in anything other than ground services for the current program was ruled out when Taiwan insisted that such a step could not be taken without official negotiations between the two sides. China has refused to negotiate with Taiwan since former president Lee Teng-hui's 1999 remark that relations between Taiwan and China were "state to state" in nature.
In his preliminary plan, Chang called for the second program of charter flights to eliminate the stopovers in Hong Kong or Macau.
He also said that he wishes to include the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in the program.
"A lot of Taiwanese businessmen live and work in Guangzhou. There is indeed a need to include the city for their convenience," Chang said.
In response, Tsai said it was too early to talk about a second charter flight program. "Our only wish for the time being is to carry out the current plan smoothly. Then we will review the program for future reference," she said.
Tsai stressed that if Chinese carriers wanted to operate any flights, official cross-strait negotiations would be "unavoidable."
Tsai said China's quick decision to approve FAT's application to operate some of the flights for the coming Lunar New Year showed that both sides were facing current cross-strait problems "pragmatically."
Tsai added that she expected cross-strait relations to improve "to a certain degree."
Chang also said yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian's
"It is a great gift for the New Year," Chang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it