China can operate cross-strait chartered flights for Taiwanese businessmen based there during next year's Lunar New Year holidays if it agrees to negotiate with Taiwan about the details, government officials said yesterday.
Following Taiwan's historical introduction of cross-strait chartered flights for businessmen based in China during this year's celebrations, Chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council Tsai Ing-wen (
At the end of last year, Taiwan authorized a project that allowed airlines to apply to Chinese authorities for clearance on cross-strait chartered flights during this year's holidays.
Taiwan unilaterally implemented the project without negotiating with China. China nevertheless approved the Taiwanese airlines' applications to conduct the flights.
About 1,000 Taiwanese businessmen based in China took advantage of the chartered flights to Taiwan during this year's celebrations. The flights were restricted to Taiwanese airlines.
On Oct. 29, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Mingqing (
Responding to Zhang's request, Tsai said if China wants to operate the flights, it should first consult Taiwan. According to the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), Taiwanese aircraft and ships cannot travel to China without the government's approval. The statute also prohibits Chinese aircraft and ships from traveling to certain areas of Taiwan without the approval of the Taiwanese government.
The Mainland Affairs Council has stipulated that, due to various concerns, the government cannot grant Chinese airlines' applications to operate chartered flights without first negotiating about the details.
Tsai said the negotiating parties could be private bodies authorized by the Taiwanese and Chinese governments. China should not introduce any political precondition for these negotiations, she said.
Zhang had said earlier that the "one China" principle should be the precondition for any talks between Taiwan and China. He also demanded that the policy of conducting chartered flights based on a third point stopover be revoked.
All cross-strait flights during this year's holidays had to stop over at a third point, either Hong Kong or Macau, after taking off from Taiwan and before they reached China. On their way back to Taiwan, the aircraft had to go by way of Hong Kong or Macau again.
China-based Taiwanese businessmen attending a government-hosted conference in Taipei during the Moon Festival in September asked the council to deliver a plan for the next Lunar New Year by Nov. 15. The number of Taiwanese businessmen based in China, along with their families and workers, has passed the 1 million mark, according to the Straits Exchange Foundation, Taiwan's semi-official body handling cross-strait affairs.
Legislators yesterday urged the Mainland Affairs Council to publicize its regulations for chartered flights during the next Lunar New Year as soon as possible, so that airlines and related agencies can start their preparations.
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (
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