The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said that it hopes to hold talks with Beijing on adding cross-strait flights during the next Lunar New Year holiday despite a cooling in relations between the two sides.
A mechanism is in place for negotiating additional Lunar New Year flights each year to handle the usual influx in passenger numbers, and the CAA will try setting up a meeting between the two sides in the near future, CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsieh (林國顯) said.
However, the agency admitted that it was not confident the annual talks on extra flights would come about because of stalled ties since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government took office in May.
The talks would be held in Taiwan this year based on the past rotation.
China has cut off dialogue with Taiwan over the DPP government’s refusal to accept the so-called “1992 consensus” that was at the foundation of ties between the previous Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and Beijing.
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
China has tried to put pressure on the DPP government by reducing the number of tourists it sends to Taiwan and subjecting Taiwan to increasing pressure in the international community.
Taiwan was not invited to attend the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, which is taking place in Montreal, because of China’s objections.
There are 890 weekly flights between Taiwan and China, but demand usually spikes during the Lunar New Year.
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