China yesterday reiterated its hope that its airlines could join in cross-strait chartered flights for the Lunar New Year holidays -- and the Cabinet said China was welcome to participate if it agrees to negotiate on the issue.
"Airlines on both sides can negotiate over technical problems," said Zhang Mingqing (
Zhang said China understood that Taiwan had agreed to allow Chinese airlines to join the charter program.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced last Friday that Chinese airlines would be able to fly to Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday if Beijing agreed to negotiate technical problems with the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).
"If Taiwan is sincere on this matter, China will do its best to cooperate," Zhang said.
In response, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
Lin said the chartered-flight plan earlier this year for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and their families to return home for the Lunar New Year holiday had established a good foundation for both sides to discuss flights for next year.
Lin noted the talks must been conducted by both sides' governments or bodies authorized by the governments.
SEF Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) said the foundation will send a letter in the next day or two to invite its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), for negotiations on the flight plan.
"We are not in a hurry," Shi said.
Asked whether the foundation would authorize Taiwanese airlines to negotiate with Chinese airlines if ARATS refused to talk, Shi told reporters, "It is too early to speculate on the problem."
According to the plan mapped out by the Mainland Affairs Council out last week, the charter flights for next year's holiday would span three weeks, from Jan. 9 to Feb. 2.
This year's flights had to briefly stop in Hong Kong or Macau before flying to and from China and the Taiwanese airlines had to obtain approval in advance from China's aviation authorities to land there.
Roger Han (
Taiwanese airlines could do nothing before the governments on both sides worked out clear guidelines on the flights, Han said.
"The governments have yet to reach a consensus on the flight project," he said.
In related news, during his Beijing press conference, Zhang reiterated his government's criticism of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Labeling the two issues Chen's "attempts to separate Taiwan from China," the Chinese official said Beijing has no choice but to take action to oppose the moves toward independence.
The Mainland Affairs Council expressed regrets over what it described as Zhang's "distorted remarks" and called for China to respect Taiwan's leaders.
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