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Pan-blues demand vote on Songshan plan by March

The pan-blue alliance yesterday vowed to put to a vote a plan designed to open Taipei's Songshan Airport to direct links with Hong Kong and Macau if all legislative caucuses fail to reach a consensus on the issue by March.

"We hope the Mainland Affairs Council will not obstruct the bill merely on political grounds," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) said. "The plan not only makes transportation between the city and China more convenient, but also lowers transportation costs."

The proposal was at the top of the agenda for the plenary legislative session last Tuesday. It was put aside for further cross-party negotiations due to the opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).

The first round of cross-party talks, chaired by Chiang yesterday, failed to reach consensus because of the absence of DPP and TSU representatives.

Chiang said that he hopes to see the proposal clear the legislature in March and go into effect in August or September.

Once the north-south high-speed railway system and the rapid transit system connecting Taipei City and the CKS International Airport become operational, the Songshan Airport can be changed back to a domestic airport, Chiang said.

Chiang said he is confident that the bill would pass the legislature in March, since he has collected signatures from 113 lawmakers who support it, and expects the number to rise to 120.

As transportation authorities have told him that technical problems can be overcome, Chiang said he hopes other government agencies, especially the Mainland Affairs Council, would support the plan.

Observers have speculated that the DPP government may be forced to make concessions in cross-strait policy following its poor performance in the local elections. Mainland Affairs Council spokesman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) has dismissed such talk, saying that the government would not change cross-strait policies because of one round of local elections.
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