Taiwan's aviation delegation, led by Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) director-general Billy Chang (張國政), is slated to meet with its Chinese counterpart in Macau today to discuss issues regarding cross-strait charter flights during the Lunar New Year holidays.
The Chinese delegation is led by Pu Zhaozhou (
In addition to Chang, the Taiwan delegation consists of CAA official Fang Chi-wen (
Led by Pu, China's delegation also includes three more CAAC officials.
Praising China's practical attitude toward the charter flights, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san (
"We still follow the formula of the Taiwan-Hong Kong aviation. We will put off the dispute, presume no preconditions and respect each other. The government will lead and the private sector will assist," Chiu said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Taiwan will allow Chinese flag-carriers to fly to the country for the first time since 1949 if both sides of the Strait reach an agreement on direct charter flights for next month's Lunar New Year holiday, an official said yesterday.
Air China is the only Chinese airline which carries the national flag.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (
"The national flag will not be a problem, and we don't mind it," Lin told reporters.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically