A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation left for Beijing yesterday to discuss the possible operation of Lunar New Year cross-strait charter flights.
The delegation consists of KMT legislators Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), John Chang (章孝嚴) and Chu Feng-chih (朱鳳芝), and KMT spokesman Chang Yung-kung (張榮恭). John Chang said before departing that Taipei and Beijing still need to discuss many details about the launch of the charter flights.
Saying that charter flights for this year had originally been seen by many as a hopeless matter, the legislator added that the KMT hopes it can successfully push for the matter again this year, following the method used in 2003.
He said the launch of flights had a 70 percent chance of success. The other 30 percent was subject to talks with Beijing, he said, adding that the Mainland Affairs Council and President Chen Shui-bian (
Expressing the hope that current cross-strait tensions can be eased by a successful launch of the charter flights, Chang also said Taiwan's government should not neglect the people's will.
Tseng said the KMT hopes that China will agree to using Beijing, Xiamen and Guangzhou as the departure and destination cities for the flights.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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