The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday denied a newspaper report that a its evaluation on direct air links says Kao-hsiung's Hsiaokang airport is the most suitable site for cross-strait flights.
"It is not a fact that in our evaluation report Kaohsiung international airport is most likely to be opened as a site for direct aviation links," a council news release stated yesterday.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that the council's evaluation -- due to be announced by the end of this month -- had ruled out Taipei Sungshan Airport as a direct-links flight site because it only provides domestic passenger services.
The paper reported that the council had determined that CKS international airport and the airport in Kaohsiung were in line with international standards and therefore suitable as destinations for direct cross-strait air links.
The newspaper story also said that the evaluation report indicated that China might reject CKS as a direct-links site because using the international airport would imply that cross-strait air routes are international ones.
This is why the paper concluded that Kaohsiung's Hsiaokang airport will be opened for direct-link flights after cross-strait talks because it is used for both domestic and international passenger services. That would allow Taiwan and China to interpret cross-strait routes as either domestic or international ones according to their needs.
Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (
The newspaper story did not cite any specific sources but it detailed what it said was the council's evaluation plan. It also said that the Hualien airport could be also be considered as a fallback direct cross-strait flight airport if the Kaohsiung airport's capacity becomes overloaded.
The Hualien airport is a domestic airport although it does provide international charter flight services.
The newspaper report said the Chinese airports that the Taiwan government wishes to see opened to cross-strait flights include airports in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Council officials yesterday rejected the entire newspaper story, saying its evaluation plan is still under study and is expected to be released by the end of this month.
"There is no such thing [as a completed evaluation]," said Chen Ming-tong (
Chen declined to give details of the evaluation, saying that the council will announce the results of the plan at an "appropriate time."
According to the council's news release, it is holding meetings with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of National Defense to evaluate the impact on Taiwan's economy that direct cross-strait air links will have as well as technical discussion on how to implement the such flights.
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