Taipei’s proposal for Beijing to allow international flights from China to make transit stops in Taiwan remains in limbo as talks are still under way, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Sunday.
Asked about the progress of the talks, the council said: “The two sides are still negotiating and communicating with each other actively on the issue,” hoping they can reach a consensus and strike a deal to begin the service as soon as possible.
The remarks cast uncertainty over the implementation of an agreement reached between MAC Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) and his Chinese counterpart, Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), during their meeting in Kinmen in May that the transit stops in Taiwan would begin in the middle of this year.
The issue was set to be settled in a planned summit meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), this month, when the two parties are expected to sign tax and aviation safety agreements.
However, the Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) said on Sunday that the meeting might not take place as expected.
The Chinese side has not set a concrete date for the beginning of the transit-flight service, and the issue remains stuck on Beijing’s request for measures to be taken to “optimize” flight routes between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait, the UDN said, adding that there are likely to be changes to the planned SEF-ARATS meeting, which was to take place by the end of the month.
Hsia said during a visit to the US last month that the meeting would take place by the end of this month, and that he and Zhang could meet next month to talk about matters of mutual concern.
Asked about the report, the MAC did not give a direct answer, but said that the SEF and ARATS were sparing no efforts in preparing for their 11th summit meeting since 2008.
As for the planned Hsia-Zhang meeting, the council said the two sides have not settled on a date, but promised to announce it as soon as they have reached an agreement.
The council added that transit stops in Taiwan are a different issue from “flight route optimization,” which China proposed as part of efforts to promote cross-strait flight efficiency and convenience.
One of the measures the Chinese side has suggested was to “straighten” the flight routes between the two sides, allowing commercial flights from China to fly across the median line of the Taiwan Strait to shorten flight times.
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