Beijing's rejection yesterday of Taipei's proposal to operate chartered cargo flights to China might delay the implementation of the flights, but officials here said China's reaction does not surprise them.
China turned down the proposal, just one day before the slated implementation of the flights, and described the project as "an immature policy."
According to the proposal, Taiwanese cargo planes would fly between Taiwan and Shanghai with short stopovers in Hong Kong or Macau. The implementation period was to begin today and to last for a year.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which had kept quiet over the proposal since the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced it on Sept. 10, made its first official response to the issue in a press conference hosted by its spokesman, Li Weiyi (
Li was joined by Hu Hanxiang (
Pu said it is meaningless for Taiwanese cargo planes to make the brief stopovers in Hong Kong or Macau before flying to Shanghai.
"It is costly and unreasonable," Pu said.
Hu demanded Chinese cargo planes be allowed to participate in the service, a suggestion MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
Hu also said how the Chinese and Taiwanese carriers operate the cargo flights should be settled through negotiations between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of the two sides.
Hu added that the cargo service must be treated as a domestic issue for China.
Pu said without negotiations between NGOs, Taiwan's announcement to launch the cargo service was unreasonable and abnormal.
A MAC official said China's insistence on letting NGOs negotiate direct cross-strait transportation issues shows its reluctance to acknowledge the role of Taiwan's government.
Chen Chung-hong (
"Direct cross-strait transportation cannot be achieved in a single step. Our government has planned steps to launch direct cross-strait transportation, but the key issues can only be solved through cross-strait negotiations," Chen said.
"Our government has made many efforts to reopen cross-strait negotiations and amended related laws to make negotiations more flexible," he said.
As China has insisted on resolving such issues through NGO negotiations, Taiwan's government cannot play a role in issues that demand its involvement, Chen said.
He said the government has exhibited its goodwill and sincerity in proposing the charter flights.
"However, the remarks by China's Taiwan Affairs Office today showed no sincerity in dealing with the direct cross-strait transportation problems with Taiwan," Chen said.
He also responded to the office's comments on cross-strait human smuggling.
"China should not blame the human trafficking problem on Taiwan. What it should do is bring the 2,400 illegal Chinese immigrants back," Chen said.
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