Hopes are fading for the proposed indirect cross-Straits charter
flights to take off as a senior government official warned Thursday
Taipei's refusal to allow non-governmental talks on detailed
arrangements may finally strangle the plan.
"Whether the charter flight programme can actually be put into
place or not hinges on what actions the Taiwan side will take and
what decisions it will make in the coming days,'' the official with
the General
Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) told China
Daily.
"We still do not know what will happen eventually, but one thing
for sure is that no charter flights will be allowed unless detailed
arrangements are made, which is the common practice anywhere in the
world.''
He
said what needs to be discussed during the talks, including flight
routes, the number of flights and landing services, is critical to
the safe and sound operation of the charter flights.
The CAAC official, who declined to be identified, revealed that the
non-governmental China Civil Aviation Association sent a formal
invitation to its Taiwan counterpart for talks to solve technical
issues involved in the plan a week ago, but has so far met with no
response.
"The reason is that Taiwanese airlines and industrial organizations
are pressurized by the Taiwan authorities not to enter talks with
their mainland counterparts, despite their real intention to do
so,'' the official said.
He
said the lack of response demonstrates that Taipei is actually
trying every means to hinder a smooth implementation of the plan,
although it gave final approval on December 4 for Taiwanese
airlines to operate indirect charter flights between Shanghai and
Taiwan via Hong Kong or Macao during the forthcoming Spring
Festival holiday.
The CAAC official rejected an accusation by Shi Hwei-yow,
secretary-general of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF),
that the mainland has kept changing its attitude on whether to hold
talks or not, in a bid to manipulate the issue.
Shi reportedly said on Monday that Beijing's "apparent change of
heart has led to more uncertainties about the flights and made
Taiwanese business people hesitant to register their interest in
them.''
The CAAC official commenting on Shi's reported remarks said: "These
remarks (by Shi) are completely irresponsible as we have been
maintaining, from the very beginning, that any technical problems
that may arise in the charter flight proposal must be solved
through company-to-company or industry-to-industry
consultation.''
Although the mainland has held out for direct charter flights with
no stopovers and demanded mainland airlines also participate in the
charters, it has finally given the nod to Taipei's proposal for the
indirect charter flights between January 26 and February 10.
But the CAAC earlier said technical issues need to be resolved
through non-governmental negotiations before it could take
applications from Taiwanese airlines for such flights.
The CAAC official said that Taipei is apparently attempting to
politicize across-Straits economic issues by making groundless
accusations in order to pass the buck to the mainland.
"By hindering talks between private bodies from the two sides, the
Taiwan authorities are indeed aiming at letting the government or
SEF step in (the matter),'' the official stressed.
The SEF is a quasi-official body authorized by Taiwan to handle
civil exchanges with the mainland in the absence of official
contacts.
Beijing has ruled out the possibility of holding any official or
semi-official contacts across the Taiwan Straits due to Taipei's
refusal to accept the immutable one-China principle held by Beijing
that both Taiwan and the mainland are part of China.
Instead, it has proposed to solve all practical issues, such as the
three links of trade, transport and postal services as well as the
proposed charter flights through nonofficial consultations.
But Taipei has insisted that government play a leading role in any
cross-Straits talks.
In
fact, it took a pan-politicized stance last month by turning a
potentially significant practical proposal into a largely symbolic
move by refusing a call from the business community and 140 local
"lawmakers'' to permit direct cross-Straits charter flights, citing
security concerns.
For their part the Taiwanese airlines have effectively poured cold
water on the indirect charter flights proposal as the Taiwan
authorities' insistence on a detour via Hong Kong or Macao makes
the flights less convenient and less attractive.
In
stark contrast with earlier hopes that 120 indirect charter flights
could be provided during the holiday, six Taiwanese airlines have
agreed to fly only six flights in principal, according to Su
Hsien-lung, spokesman of the Taipei Airlines Association.
Negotiations will also be necessary to work out technical issues in
respect of the charter flight arrangements, he said Thursday.
(China Daily December 13, 2002)