Foreign airlines could face exclusion from potential future direct routes between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. This would chiefly be the result of a drive to protect the profitability of local carriers as proposed in a new five-year plan for the aviation industry which is currently being drafted by the government.
According to a report in local media, the government is considering excluding foreign airlines from the routes as China considers such links domestic and Taiwan is likely to ambiguously classify them as "special."
Under the plan drafted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the smaller Sungshan Airport in Taipei and Hualien Airport would be included alongside Chiang Kai Shek and Hsiaokang Airport in Kaohsiung as servicing points on the routes to China.
The CAA draft plan reportedly clearly states the government's intention to deny foreign airlines the "fifth freedom right" -- the right to connect flights to Taipei onwards to China.
According to an official at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which oversees the CAA, "if we allowed too many foreign airlines to fly certain domestic routes then it will affect the profits of all airlines and negatively impact their sustainability."
However, the official stressed that the report, which is scheduled for release at the end of June, is still being reviewed by the Mainland Affairs Council -- which will ultimately have the final say in how air links with China will be established.
"It still hasn't been determined whether the links will be classified as domestic or international and how the final decision would ultimately impact Taiwan's international sovereignty," the official said.
These issues would have to be resolved in negotiations with China, the official said.
An executive from Thai Airways in Taiwan said that, while the company hadn't made any plans yet for expansion into China via Taiwan, air right treaties are subject to bilateral negotiations that result in reciprocal agreements.
Taiwanese airlines enjoyed "fifth freedom rights" via Bangkok, which is a major regional hub linking Asia with South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique