Friday April 23, 2004

U.S. Encourages Cross-Strait Trade, Transport Links: Official

WASHINGTON, April 22 Asia Pulse - The United States encourages both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in direct trade, postal and transportation links, as it will be a win-win situation for the two sides to step up economic exchanges, a United States official said Wednesday.

James A. Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, made the remarks at a hearing on the 25th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act at the House International Relations Committee.

Kelly said the reasons Taiwan hesitates to implement cross-strait direct links may include worries that overreliance on the mainland could potentially produce a crisis. In addition, Taiwan also worries that direct links could speed up the outflow of Taiwan industry, worsening its unemployment problem.

Though it is not completely unfounded that Taiwan worries about the hollowing out of its industry, Kelly said Taiwan should also see the issue in a broader perspective. Cross-strait trade is not conducted in a vacuum, but is part of global trade, and the world economy is in nature interdependent, he added.

He pointed out that 25 per cent of Taiwan's exported products go to the mainland, and a great majority of those products then go from the mainland to the world after assembly.

Kelly said that the reason that Beijing authorities dare not impose economic sanctions on Taiwan is because if a crisis develops across the Taiwan Strait, the damage to the mainland may be as bad as to Taiwan, and this is why mainland China fired missiles in waters off Taiwan between 1995 and 1996, but dared not impose economic sanction on Taiwan.

Taiwan has a sound economic structure, trade policies, solid economic basis, good educational system, a dynamic industrial structure based mainly on small- and medium-sized enterprises. and it is currently moving toward the areas of biotechnology, optoelectronics and nanotechnlogy, he added.

But Kelly also urged Taiwan to conduct financial reforms, improve the investment environment, and implement its pledges made before entering the World Trade Organization, saying that Taiwan has much room for improvement in the area of the protection of intellectual property rights.

(CNA)

Context

Since 1949, no direct flights have been allowed between China and Taiwan. Passengers on both sides must transfer planes through a 3rd destination, usually Hong Kong. As a result, the Hong Kong-Taipei route is heavily travelled by Taiwanese businessmen, and is a major revenue source for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair. Talks between China and Taiwan have stalled on inaugurating direct flights, which will have major percussions on the aviation market in the Greater China region.

it will be great if Taiwan can restablish transport links with the Mainland. It will reduce
cost and travel time. Currently, Taiwan's transport link with the mainland is via Hong Kong.

China Airlines had a flight to Shanghai via a stopover in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year 2003 but recent tensions have stalled any further talks on direct links.

I wonder what the impact will be like should there be direct triple cross-straight links.....

Given the present political tensions that's not likely to happen even in the long term (5 years).

The question is what happens if it do happen. Not when it will happen.

Any predictions anyone?

No more Hongkong stopover???

Direct Cross-Strait-Links would do good for all Chinese. I hope the halted dialogues between the mainland and the island will resume again very soon.

There will be a boom in flights between mainland and Taiwan, although it's a waste of time to analyze the impact to all sorts of detail when it's not going to happen in the formidable future. It's like coming up with a detailed plan to address what happens when it rains frogs.

Currently a lot of airlines fly between Hong Kong & Macau and Taiwan. Capacity might be reduced if direct links take place, but the airlines are well diversified to take the hit, if it happens. Since Hong Kong accounts for half of China's FDI and a major base for Chinese investment, demand for capacity will still be there.

Direct Cross-Strait-Links would do good for all Chinese. I hope the halted dialogues between the mainland and the island will resume again very soon.
It is perhaps "ideal" to think for the good of all, but so long that people choose to look inwards instead of outwards, I dont think there would be much progress?

And I dont think anyone is particularly interested in giving up a monstrous chunk of their traffic flow "for the common good!"

Politics often ignore the notion of the common good. A lot bickering comes from an overdose of ego coupled with a power struggle for domination. The old rivalries between the Communists and Nationalists will always lurk in the shadows in any negotiation. China's position is firm, and so is Taiwan's, yet how can there be a consensus? There almost was one last year.

However, consider the geopolitical implications of such a pact. If direct links are approved, then that signals a defeated government that fled to the island of Taiwan can successfully bargain an economic settlement with Communist China - the victor - amidst talks of separation. So logically speaking, why should the communists give the Taiwanese an economic benefit when they can't accept their political defeat?

Just some thoughts to ponder over. Sure, people will benefit if direct links take place, but politics will get in the way. Welcome to international diplomacy.

As far as history has revealed, it was the Kuomintang which severed the 3 links with Mainland China, for a whole host of reasons, and if contemporary politics were to go by, all evidence points to the Mainland Chinese hoping that the links will be restored.

A restoration of links is beneficial for both China and Taiwan, and can hardly be considered to be a victory for either one party in the economical sense. If one wants to see things in a political way, then China knows, that it is equally in its immense benefit that should there be free flow of trade, the economy of Taiwan will become even more intertwined with that of Mainland China, and this can become its best tool for political negotiation into the far future.

The Taiwanese government is fearful of this potential threat which China seems to be trying to exploit, and hence they have more reason to stall the talks then China does rather then scoring "political points." If anything, the PRC govt looks set to shifting its means of conducting cross-straits diplomacy by finally considering the possibility of entering negotiations with them on an equal footing, as recent news has mentioned.

Welcome to the Reality of International Diplomacy.

The Taiwanese are fearful of economic dependence on China, yet realizing there is a huge pool of cheap labour and investment opportunities that are not worth ignoring. The present Taiwanese regime is pre-occupied with independence, while mainland China has stood on the sidelines. However, if anything funny arises, China will act, as they did back in the 1990s when they launched military exercises while the Taiwanese election campaign rolled along. China, on the other hand, would not suffer as badly if Taiwanese money stopped flowing in, but Taiwanese firms will bleed badly if they are shut out of China.

Both sides acknowledge direct links are a good thing, but politics always get in the way of a solution. After all, it has been over 50 years and relations have been frosty at times. The Hong Kong experiment is a clear example China wants to make to Taiwan as an olive branch. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese people elect a separatist. Then China issues an ultimatum threatening Taiwan. Who's more eager? Anyone can successfully argue for either side.

Politically, anything that smells like integrating with Communist China is the end of the world for the Nationalists.

Hence direct links will be on the agenda for years to come. Nothing much will move in the near term while the mess with the Taiwanese elections gets sorted out.

Note that even with the breakthrough China Airlines flight to Shanghai in 2003, the plane actually stopped in Hong Kong before continuing to Taiwan.

I suppose you are assuming that the political situation in China and Taiwan and between them will remain static for "years to come?"

5 years is not a long time, btw.

Reunification will not be possible in 5 years. Maybe a few decades is more feasible. Given the tensions from recent elections perhaps it'll take a friendlier Taiwanese president to make some headway.

However, a lot can happen in 5 years. Afghanistan became the spotlight of the world days after 9/11.

The first para says squarely that there will be no reunification.

The second para suggests there might be.

???

No, the first indicates reunification is hard. The second says a lot can happen. A lot can happen but that doesn't mean reunification will be one of them. Relations have suddenly gone sour this year while last year China Airlines did fly to Shanghai last year.

So if reunification can be hard, but at the same time, it can happen, then what is the gist of the whole thing?

And anyway, they dont really need political reunification for the three links to be resumed, do they?

Just because it can happen doesn't mean it'll be easy to get there. Both sides must get along first before they can negotiate. They might not have to unify to fly between each other, but they better be on good terms for that to happen.

but they better be on good terms for that to happen.
That sounds almost like a nanny telling them how to handle their political affairs!

But this simple reality is very true. How can you negotiate if you're mad at each other?

But this simple reality is very true. How can you negotiate if you're mad at each other?
Two gentlemen can certainly negotiate if they disagree. If they agreed, what is there to negotiate?

:)

Well, the tensions are flaring across the strait right now. Do you think both sides will sit down and talk when there are so many clouds hanging overhead and so many issues yet to be resolved? Of course not, and they are not talking now. That's the reality. You can say people can negotiate under any circumstance, but reality often works much differently than idealism.

Politics.

The thing is.....is anyone saying they are going to resume the 3 links right now? :D Nope. So why this obsession with trying to convince us that nothing is going to be resolved in that region "even in the long term (5 years)?"

Isnt the topic about Cross Strait Aviation News? Or are we into politics now?

Nobody's assuming anything about direct links. Analysts are skeptical as to the time-frame, although they agree it'll be in the very long run. Airlines are taking a passive approach (instead of an active reactionary strategy) by diversifying their markets.

These things are just as much about politics as aviation economics.

The intention of this thread is to keep people posted when news does pop up. Hence there is the word 'News' in the title.

Nobody's assuming anything about direct links. Analysts are skeptical as to the time-frame, although they agree it'll be in the very long run. Airlines are taking a passive approach (instead of an active reactionary strategy) by diversifying their markets.

These things are just as much about politics as aviation economics.

The intention of this thread is to keep people posted when news does pop up. Hence there is the word 'News' in the title.
Ok good. If this thread is going to turn into a political debate about China-Taiwan affairs, then please make an "official warning" about it, because political threads get "special attention" from mods. In general, non-political threads which end up as a political debate are frowned upon, if you are not aware of this already. Already, I was wondering why politics was brought into the picture when the initial question was about the impact of flight patterns should cross-straits links be resumed.

If politics must be involved, which I presume you are saying is "needed" in this thread, then it must be conducted in the strictest manner of discipline ever possible. This thread is not just a matter between two persons. A Mainland Chinese or Taiwanese who chances upon this thread will be equally entitled to express his views, and nothing is better for him then to see politics being the main gist of the entire thread.

I hope I have your understanding in this? I hope that hence forth, the conduct from every forumer in this thread will be more measured, myself included. Any clarifications are welcomed.

The thread is never intended to be a political debate, although politics will certainly have a role because these negotiations are very political in nature. As long as there is a valid and relevant purpose and it's done in a mature and intelligent manner than any discussion is good.

What do we know?
- cross strait relations are now quite frosty amidst talk of Taiwanese independence
- direct links have been put on hold after the 2003 China Airlines flight due to political tensions
- it doesn't seem like the status quo will change in the long term
- how current political tensions can be resolved will directly impact the progress of direct links
- airlines are reacting passively by diversifying their markets to reduce risk, which is a common strategy and applicable to many types of operating environments

I don't understand why you think this thread will be doomed to political debate when it actually has not happened. By the way, political debate is not a bad thing if done prudently.

It will be very helpful if mainlanders can offer their perspective on the issue as well as Taiwanese, if done in an intelligent manner. Don't shut the door just because problems might occur. Shut the door only when they do pop up.

I hope you would re-read my previous post. Your last two paragraphs in particular demonstrate a misunderstanding of what I said.

The thread is never intended to be a political debate, although politics will certainly have a role because these negotiations are very political in nature. As long as there is a valid and relevant purpose and it's done in a mature and intelligent manner than any discussion is good..
I hope you realise that when u say there is "no intention" for the thread to be political, and yet being conscious that it is political in nature, and can end up being a political debate, what does that imply?

There is a difference between starting a thread with political intentions from day one, and starting a thread saying it is not political, but going political soon after. This is not to say that political issues are to be avoided, but I think you understand that political issues get extreme attention from mods, and I am inclined to notify other mods of this thread's existance. Hence I am asking you if you intend to turn it political.

It is a simple yes or no.

I hope you realize there is a difference between intention to stir up political tensions and an indirect political foundation behind any argument. We all know this issue is political, but if everyone looks at it in an objective manner then everyone's set. All the participants in here have abided to that code so it is not a problem.

As I've said, political issues are worthy of debate and people should not run away from it when conducted properly. Here in the West we do value opinions and freedom of speech. That's why the Americans stepped up and issued an opinion as I've posted originally).

I don't see how your debate is adding value to the issue. There have been no problems in here so far and I don't think your warning is needed or justified. In fact, some people might be angry that you're trying to stop an intelligent debate here on direct links.

As I've said again and again, and I don't know how you can miss is still, the intentention of this thread is to post news about cross strait links. Your question has been long answered already. Go back and read the post again.

*************************************************************

Here is one of the problems that is holding back cross strait negotiations now :

Thursday April 22, 06:16 PM

Taiwan constitution reform plan will not jeopardize cross-Strait ties: FM

TAIPEI, (AFP) - Taiwan has denied its move to adopt a new constitution is a step towards independence, after Washington warned the island not to jeopardize the status quo with China.

"I can assure you that the constitutional reform will be carried out under the existing framework," Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun told reporters without elaborating.

Taiwan would work to clear Washington's "misunderstanding" about the plan by President Chen Shui-bian to hold a referendum on a new constitution in 2006 for adoption two years later, the minister said.

The Taiwan leader, who won re-election on March 20, has argued the new law was not designed to split the island from China but govern local issues such as streamlining the government, lowering the voting age and amending compulsory military service.
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"There has been some misunderstanding, maybe because we have not made it clear enough or because China has deliberately exaggerated the issue. We will step up our communication (with Washington) for better understanding," the minister said.

The new constitution would not lead to any changes in cross-Strait relations, said the minister, a former independence activist.

US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly Wednesday cautioned Taiwan against moves towards independence from China.

Testifying Wednesday at a hearing marking the 25th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, the blueprint governing ties between Taiwan, China and the United States, Kelly said Washington's efforts to keep Beijing in check could come undone if Taiwan tries to break away.

"We have very real concerns that our efforts at deterring Chinese coercion might fail if Beijing ever becomes convinced Taiwan is embarked on a course toward independence and permanent separation from China," Kelly told members of the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations.

"Taiwan must be stopped in these efforts," Kelly said, amid continuing worry over moves by President Chen toward greater independence during campaigning ahead of the presidential elections.

Washington has observed the "one China" policy since it switched recognition to Beijing in 1979.

Kelly's remarks came a week after China launched its biggest barrage against Taiwan since the poll, warning the plan to write a new constitution would result in "tensions and danger" in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing fears that referendum would be used to change Taiwan's flag, the island's official name -- the Republic of China -- and its territorial claims, to permanently split the two sides.

China still considers Taiwan, which has been ruled separately since 1949 when communists drove the nationalist forces off the mainland, as part of its territory. It has threatened to invade if the island declares formal independence.

Commentary
- in time these issues are resolvable
- there is a lot of interest on both sides to resume negotiations

I hope you realize there is a difference between intention to stir up political tensions and an indirect political foundation behind any argument. We all know this issue is political, but if everyone looks at it in an objective manner then everyone's set. All the participants in here have abided to that code so it is not a problem.

As I've said, political issues are worthy of debate and people should not run away from it when conducted properly. Here in the West we do value opinions and freedom of speech. That's why the Americans stepped up and issued an opinion as I've posted originally).

I don't see how your debate is adding value to the issue. There have been no problems in here so far and I don't think your warning is needed or justified. In fact, some people might be angry that you're trying to stop an intelligent debate here on direct links.

As I've said again and again, and I don't know how you can miss is still, the intentention of this thread is to post news about cross strait links. Your question has been long answered already. Go back and read the post again.Of coz there is a difference, dear hkskyline, which is why I am asking you to differentiate it for yourself in this thread. Amazingly, I am actually trying to tell you to watch your back and to set the record straight least your backside gets fried by another less forgiving mod, but just look at your own response?

Sigh.

For your info, there is a debate going now as to whether politics should even be allowed or not in this entire forums. I do not know how "free speech" advocators are going to take this, but if they arent happy, they have a choice not to be in this forums.

And from the look of it, other mods seems to think it is better not to have them around...

Thursday May 6, 8:10 PM

Report: Taiwan appoints new official responsible for China policy

An academic will replace one of Taiwan's most popular Cabinet officials as the top policy-maker dealing with the critical issue of China relations, the island's semiofficial news agency reported Thursday.

Joseph Wu, a political science professor who recently worked as a top aide to President Chen Shui-bian, will replace Tsai Ing-wen as head of the Mainland Affairs Council, the Central News Agency reported, quoting Wu.

The reshuffle ended weeks of intense speculation about who would replace Tsai, a lawyer, in one of the government's most high-profile positions.

Chen was narrowly re-elected last March, and it is a Taiwanese tradition for leaders to reshuffle their Cabinet at the start of a new term. Tsai worked in the grueling job for four years and has indicated that she wanted a change.

The Mainland Affairs Council is on the front line of Taiwan's cold war with mainland China. A civil war split the two sides in 1949, and Beijing's Communist government has repeatedly threatened to use force to take over the island, just 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the mainland's coast.

The U.S.-educated Wu has a reputation for being friendly and accessible to journalists. He has frequently traveled abroad and has close ties with foreign scholars and policy-makers. He has also been a prolific writer of newspaper opinion articles about China relations.

One of Wu's biggest challenges will be to find a way to start talks with China. Leaders from both sides haven't met since they separated.

Wu will also be under tremendous pressure to craft a policy for restoring direct air and shipping links that were cut more than five decades ago. Many Taiwanese business leaders have investments in China despite the two governments' chilly relations, and they are eager for the government to open links.

So far, long-standing political disputes have blocked progress on both issues, and there are few signs of a breakthrough.

Polls have consistently reported that Tsai was one of the most popular Cabinet members. She is well known for bravely jousting with lawmakers during question-and-answer sessions in the rowdy legislature.

Of coz there is a difference, dear hkskyline, which is why I am asking you to differentiate it for yourself in this thread. Amazingly, I am actually trying to tell you to watch your back and to set the record straight least your backside gets fried by another less forgiving mod, but just look at your own response?

Sigh.

For your info, there is a debate going now as to whether politics should even be allowed or not in this entire forums. I do not know how "free speech" advocators are going to take this, but if they arent happy, they have a choice not to be in this forums.

And from the look of it, other mods seems to think it is better not to have them around...

It is very clear from the start of this thread that this is a news thread, as I've stated in the title and perhaps you have failed to realize that. If you bother to read the posts, you'll notice there is very little discussion here.

Hence I wonder why you are stirring up an argument over nothing. Do you have nothing better to do to come in and ruin everything for those who are truly interested in direct links - which is both a political and aviation issue?

The forum is intended to serve its users. Nobody can lay down a law on us without justification and our consultation. You've seen a taste of that in the Hong Kong forum uproar earlier in the y ear. That's how things work here, and the other moderators know that. If you want to continue to be a moderator you need to know it, too.

You are in no position to stifle intellectual debate when there is no evidence of anything getting out of hand in here. The battle that you have warned about has not occurred. Instead, you're trying to make one happen.

Moderators for the most part don't like back and forth arguments such as what's occuring and are not a fan of political threads for that very reason. However most political threads are allowed as long as the forumers remain respectful to each other and do not use personal attacks.

Thank you for your clarification. I'll keep a diligent check to make sure things don't get out of hand in here. Things have been good since inception but if tensions erupt in here I'll message you to shut the thread down.

Asian Airline Reaction to Taiwanese Direct Links - An Analysis

Currently Hong Kong and Macau are primary beneficiaries of Taiwanese transit passengers. The Hong Kong - Taipei route is heavily travelled and very profitable. Currently many airlines serve the market, including Hong Kong carriers Cathay Pacific & Dragonair, Taiwanese carriers China Airlines, EVA, & Mandarin, and international carriers such as Thai, Japan Asia. From the HK airport website there were over 40 flights arrivals from Taipei alone on May 9th.

In terms of how the flights are distributed, Cathay Pacific and China Airlines fly the bulk of those 40+ flights a day. EVA and Dragonair are also market players but international carriers only have one or two flights a day.

Dragonair has enjoyed a major comparative advantage on this route, since they have an extensive Chinese network from its Hong Kong hub. Passengers can fly with them from Taipei or Kaohsiung and then transfer at Hong Kong International to the mainland.

However, Dragonair has realized the potential devastating impact of losing the lucrative Taiwanese routes if direct links occur. Since that is not likely going to happen in the near term, they have taken the passive approach (instead of active reactionary) of expanding their network to more destinations to reduce concentration risk on Taiwan. In the past year Dragonair has inaugurated routes to Bangkok and Tokyo, with further expansion of both passenger and freighter services and the purchase of more aircraft.

It is very clear from the start of this thread that this is a news thread, as I've stated in the title and perhaps you have failed to realize that. If you bother to read the posts, you'll notice there is very little discussion here.

Hence I wonder why you are stirring up an argument over nothing. Do you have nothing better to do to come in and ruin everything for those who are truly interested in direct links - which is both a political and aviation issue?

You are in no position to stifle intellectual debate when there is no evidence of anything getting out of hand in here. The battle that you have warned about has not occurred. Instead, you're trying to make one happen.
To put things back in perspective, a question was asked about the potential economic impact on direct links on the existing aviation patterns, put there was an attempt to dismiss discussions on this by insisting that "political realities" make that discussion irrelevant.

The discussion from then on seems to veer increasingly towards a purely political issue, and that was finally confirmed when this line appears:

Well, the tensions are flaring across the strait right now. Do you think both sides will sit down and talk when there are so many clouds hanging overhead and so many issues yet to be resolved? Of course not, and they are not talking now. That's the reality. You can say people can negotiate under any circumstance, but reality often works much differently than idealism.

Politics.

From there, I asked if this thread was supposed to be a political one, even thou I asked a very economic question which does not have to be brushed aside with politics. As savethewtc points out, we as mods are particularly sensitive about any threads which looks set to be locked in political debate, and that was the simple reason why I asked you if that was the intention of this thread.

A political thread in an aviation forum is not taken lightly. It is not to say they cannot be done, but the past few responses above shows it is not going in the right direction until I decided to change tack and ask u directly if you want to turn this into a political debate, and finally, you went back to posting news, which is what you are supposed to be doing. I appreciate the quick change, but does it only happen when another mod steps in?

Perhaps I should start asking other mods to review every thread u create? I doubt you want that.

Moderators do not step in only AFTER there is an argument. By then, the damage would have been done. This concept is not new, and you can ask just about any other mod here how many times they canned a thread immediately before it can even get one response. This thread does not deserve that kind of threatment, of coz, provided it keeps to what it is supposed to be doing, and that is precisely what I am asking you. What is the intention of this thread? If you declare that it is a political thread, then fine. The rules of political threads apply. That dosent mean it get closed, btw. I do not know where you got that idea from.

My response to the above is as simple as this. You are entitled to imagine any other reason for my actions, but irregardless of what you say, I am going to persist in exercising my role as a mod in here.

The forum is intended to serve its users. Nobody can lay down a law on us without justification and our consultation. You've seen a taste of that in the Hong Kong forum uproar earlier in the y ear. That's how things work here, and the other moderators know that. If you want to continue to be a moderator you need to know it, too.

You know, I find it agreeable that the forum "laws should be justified and consulted amongst users." The thing is, I probably wished you are right with regards to how things work here in ssc. In respect of my need to maintain my professionalism, I cannot divulge too much on what happens in the moding team, but I shall await your ascention into the team, and hopefully you might see things for yourself? Even if that wasent possible in the forseeable future, it isnt very difficult as a forumer to notice the way things work in ssc....

To put things back in perspective, a question was asked about the potential economic impact on direct links on the existing aviation patterns, put there was an attempt to dismiss discussions on this by insisting that "political realities" make that discussion irrelevant.

You do realize that direct links are driven by political developments, don't you? Will aviation ties be restored because of demand, population, income, other other economic factors? No. Politics will drive the outcome. Wih so much uncertainty on the political front, economic quantification of the outcome is infeasible because there are so many unknown variables.

That's the political reality. If there are no inputs how do you produce the output? Hence economic impact analysis is not appropriate. Instead, generalizations and high-level explanations are more appropriate, which was done in my last post.

That does not mean people cannot have an intelligent discussion about how direct links are progressing or how they will impact the lives of all 3 stakeholders - China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (which is stated in the title). In fact, there are no political tensions in here. You are the one who is most immersed in turning this into a political debate.

The discussion from then on seems to veer increasingly towards a purely political issue, and that was finally confirmed when this line appears:

Originally Posted by hkskyline
Well, the tensions are flaring across the strait right now. Do you think both sides will sit down and talk when there are so many clouds hanging overhead and so many issues yet to be resolved? Of course not, and they are not talking now. That's the reality. You can say people can negotiate under any circumstance, but reality often works much differently than idealism.

Politics.



As usual you have an eye for taking things out of context and twisting my words. Had the discussion turned ugly, the moderators would have stepped in and shut down the thread. You malicious intent of ending intellectual discussion on direct links is dearly noted. I urge the moderators to take note of this person's attempt to shut the thread with these tit for tat posts.

In fact, you are the one who started discussing the political context behind direct links in posts 12 & 14 :

As far as history has revealed, it was the Kuomintang which severed the 3 links with Mainland China, for a whole host of reasons, and if contemporary politics were to go by, all evidence points to the Mainland Chinese hoping that the links will be restored.

I suppose you are assuming that the political situation in China and Taiwan and between them will remain static for "years to come?"

And it has been clarified over and over again that "the intention of this thread is to keep people posted when news does pop up. Hence there is the word 'News' in the title." I don't understand why that has to be argued yet again.

A political issue that has repercussions in the aviation industry deserves a place here. Just because politics touches upon direct links doesn't mean we cannot discuss it. savethewtc has noted that these discussions are OK as long as they don't turn ugly - and they have not. I can turn it into high-level economics, which I have already done in my last post. Feel free to ask other moderators to come in and participate. I welcome them. People have expressed their hope for direct links to resume and no hostilities have broken out between members. That is the core of intellectual discussion and there is no reason to stop that.

I've talked to moderators such as savethewtc and Jan, and they're very approachable and friendly to issues. The key is independence, and not target on certain people's and ruin the thread for everyone. As Jan told me, "as a member of the staff I never get into discussions like this (although sometimes I really want to) and I recomment all others to do the same." A good community needs the cooperator of all members and prudent judgment by all moderators.

I repeat once more : I've said this is no place for political tensions, and my posts have reflected that. I hope not to see any more posts questioning the intention of this thread. That has been resolved. Now let's get back to the point with more high-level economic analysis :

Asian Airline Reaction to Taiwanese Direct Links - An Analysis Part 2

Asian airlines have been wary of the possibility of direct links for some time. The Hong Kong - Taiwan route is very lucrative. However, there is a lot of competition on the Hong Kong side for traffic. While HKG is a large international airport with lots of world connections, Macau's airport is also competing for some transit passengers. EVA, Air Macau, and Transasia have over 10 scheduled flights a day to Taipei and another 5 to Kaohsiung. Proportionately these are very large numbers because Macau is only a fraction the size of HKG.

In fact, Macau Airport's website has a section dedicated to simplified procedures for Taiwanese residents to transit through Macau and get visas to continue to China :

http://www.macau-airport.gov.mo/travel_guide_taiwan_compatrict_passport_application.phtml

You do realize that direct links are driven by political developments, don't you? Will aviation ties be restored because of demand, population, income, other other economic factors? No. Politics will drive the outcome. Wih so much uncertainty on the political front, economic quantification of the outcome is infeasible because there are so many unknown variables.

That's the political reality. If there are no inputs how do you produce the output? Hence economic impact analysis is not appropriate. Instead, generalizations and high-level explanations are more appropriate, which was done in my last post.

That does not mean people cannot have an intelligent discussion about how direct links are progressing or how they will impact the lives of all 3 stakeholders - China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (which is stated in the title). In fact, there are no political tensions in here. You are the one who is most immersed in turning this into a political debate.



As usual you have an eye for taking things out of context and twisting my words. Had the discussion turned ugly, the moderators would have stepped in and shut down the thread. You malicious intent of ending intellectual discussion on direct links is dearly noted. I urge the moderators to take note of this person's attempt to shut the thread with these tit for tat posts.

In fact, you are the one who started discussing the political context behind direct links in posts 12 & 14 :





And it has been clarified over and over again that "the intention of this thread is to keep people posted when news does pop up. Hence there is the word 'News' in the title." I don't understand why that has to be argued yet again.

A political issue that has repercussions in the aviation industry deserves a place here. Just because politics touches upon direct links doesn't mean we cannot discuss it. savethewtc has noted that these discussions are OK as long as they don't turn ugly - and they have not. I can turn it into high-level economics, which I have already done in my last post. Feel free to ask other moderators to come in and participate. I welcome them. People have expressed their hope for direct links to resume and no hostilities have broken out between members. That is the core of intellectual discussion and there is no reason to stop that.

I've talked to moderators such as savethewtc and Jan, and they're very approachable and friendly to issues. The key is independence, and not target on certain people's and ruin the thread for everyone. As Jan told me, "as a member of the staff I never get into discussions like this (although sometimes I really want to) and I recomment all others to do the same." A good community needs the cooperator of all members and prudent judgment by all moderators.

I repeat once more : I've said this is no place for political tensions, and my posts have reflected that. I hope not to see any more posts questioning the intention of this thread. That has been resolved. Now let's get back to the point with more high-level economic analysis :

Asian Airline Reaction to Taiwanese Direct Links - An Analysis Part 2

Asian airlines have been wary of the possibility of direct links for some time. The Hong Kong - Taiwan route is very lucrative. However, there is a lot of competition on the Hong Kong side for traffic. While HKG is a large international airport with lots of world connections, Macau's airport is also competing for some transit passengers. EVA, Air Macau, and Transasia have over 10 scheduled flights a day to Taipei and another 5 to Kaohsiung. Proportionately these are very large numbers because Macau is only a fraction the size of HKG.

In fact, Macau Airport's website has a section dedicated to simplified procedures for Taiwanese residents to transit through Macau and get visas to continue to China :

http://www.macau-airport.gov.mo/travel_guide_taiwan_compatrict_passport_application.phtml
Do you honestly think anyone needs to read that much into your post when my question, posted in #5:

I wonder what the impact will be like should there be direct triple cross-straight links.....
received an immediate answer in post #6 which goes like this?

Given the present political tensions that's not likely to happen even in the long term (5 years).
What has happpened has already happened, and my subsequent post in #24 was to put a stop to our political debates and turn it back into what it was supposed to be doing. If you again wish to let your imaginations run wild and try to imagine what was in my head when I made those posts, then I suppose I just have to leave it to you to do that alone?

Notice in post #24, I said

Isnt the topic about Cross Strait Aviation News? Or are we into politics now?
It's a "we." Not a "you." I am acknowledging that BOTH of us have been veering too much into politics, and I would like to put a stop to that. I am clearly admitting that I participated in a political discussion too, and I would like to ask if I am allowed to do that in YOUR thread!

What else would you like to infer from this?

I wonder what the impact will be like should there be direct triple cross-straight links.....
Given the present political tensions that's not likely to happen even in the long term (5 years).

You call that a political debate? For simply saying the reason why your request for an impact analysis is irrelevant because of so many unknown variables? Did I go on to discuss politics after that? No. Stating it doesn't constitute inappropriateness does it? Since you didn't bother to read my response you wouldn't know what I'm talking about anyway. Ignorance often leads to misunderstanding.

So you ignore all the economic analysis I've done to go back to something that you have dreamed up and keep on beating it to death a million posts ago.

You call that a political debate? For simply saying the reason why your request for an impact analysis is irrelevant because of so many unknown variables? Did I go on to discuss politics after that? No. Stating it doesn't constitute inappropriateness does it? Since you didn't bother to read my response you wouldn't know what I'm talking about anyway. Ignorance often leads to misunderstanding.

So you ignore all the economic analysis I've done to go back to something that you have dreamed up and keep on beating it to death a million posts ago.
Are you meaning to say, that all the subsequent posts from #6 onwards to #23 are not political in nature?

If so, why do you insist this topic is related to politics (which I agreed), as justification that political discussions should be allowed in here?

It is clearly political. No questions about it, and unfortunately, I have to add that it is not for you to judge. Sometimes, threads get deleted and the forumers dont even know why. I suppose I see a possible reason here....

But least you read too much between my lines again, I am NOT trying to suggest that I want this thread closed! :rofl:

As others have mentioned, political discussions are fine in this forum, unless you want to abuse your moderator status to crackdown on any political discussion, even though the discussion has been peaceful, nobody has gone in depth to analyze the politics of cross strait relations, and nobody has fired off their cannons irrationally.

By merely acknowledging politics are the underlying driving force of cross strait aviation links is not a political discussion. A look at the variance between idealism and reality is not a political discussion either.

If you want to continue with your malicious attempt to steer this topic to a political discussion instead of the big picture analysis I've been talking about then you'll be in a lot of hot water.

Your malicious intention is dearly noted in your continuous ignorance of the true intent of this thread, which I've mentioned over and over again, and which you choose to ignore. The other moderators are well aware of your continual revival of politics even though it was solved long ago and will deal with inappropriate behaviour harshly.

And don't even threaten a peaceful and intellectual discussion to delete this thread for no reason. That's an abuse of power, and the members will not tolerate that. Perhaps you might not know what freedom of speech and responsibility are, but we practice it here.

Back to the point, here is a piece on Macau's stake in the Taiwan aviation market.

Monday May 10, 7:59 AM

Air MacAu Increases Cargo Services to Taiwan

MACAU, May 10 Asia Pulse - Air Macau's second Airbus A-300B-4F all-cargo aircraft kicked off direct cargo service between Macau and Taipei Sunday night, air transport industry sources said.

Air Macau will operate one round-trip cargo flight between Macau and Taipei each night to further boost cargo services between Taiwan and mainland China.

The daily Macau-Taipei all-cargo service is scheduled to arrive at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport at 10:40p.m. each day and return to Macau at around 3:10a.m. the next day, according to Air Macau authorities.

Air Macau initiated all-cargo flight services between Taipei and Shanghai via Macau April 15 of this year after the airline put its first Airbus A-300B-4F into service.

The Taipei-Macau-Shanghai cargo flight service has proved to be a success since its inception, with the daily cargo carrying rate averaging more than 80 percent, Air Macau authorities said.

Air Macau also announced Sunday that it is planning to open a new cargo service route connecting Taipei and mainland China's south-central city of Nanjing, also via Macau, from this June 1, with three round-trip flights per week.

On July 1, the airline will kick off yet another new all-cargo service route, connecting Taipei and mainland China's southern coastal city of Xiamen, with flights three times per week.

Air Macau has for long operated all-cargo flights between Taipei and the southern mainland Chinese industrial city of Shenzhen via Macau.

Altogether, Air Macau will operate a total of 114 all-cargo flights per week between Taiwan and mainland Chinese territory after July 1, the Air Macau authorities said.

Meanwhile, the airline kicked off its passenger flight services between Taipei and mainland China's southwestern city of Chengdu, via Macau, last month.

(CNA)

As others have mentioned, political discussions are fine in this forum, unless you want to abuse your moderator status to crackdown on any political discussion, even though the discussion has been peaceful, nobody has gone in depth to analyze the politics of cross strait relations, and nobody has fired off their cannons irrationally.

By merely acknowledging politics are the underlying driving force of cross strait aviation links is not a political discussion. A look at the variance between idealism and reality is not a political discussion either.

If you want to continue with your malicious attempt to steer this topic to a political discussion instead of the big picture analysis I've been talking about then you'll be in a lot of hot water.

Your malicious intention is dearly noted in your continuous ignorance of the true intent of this thread, which I've mentioned over and over again, and which you choose to ignore. The other moderators are well aware of your continual revival of politics even though it was solved long ago and will deal with inappropriate behaviour harshly.

And don't even threaten a peaceful and intellectual discussion to delete this thread for no reason. That's an abuse of power, and the members will not tolerate that. Perhaps you might not know what freedom of speech and responsibility are, but we practice it here.
Whatever needs to be said has been said. And I do not know if what has been said here is quite uncalled for, as I have already told you its purely your own over-reaction to my simple intentions.

Accusing a moderator of abusing his duties is not a small matter. I hope you are aware, that if you persist in doing this, then be prepared to fully support your allegations. And instead of hailing these accusations openly in a forum like this, I would recommend that you shoot everything you need to say immediately to higher authority right away. If your open accusations turn out to be unjustified, and amounts to defamation of my good name, then I hope you are prepared for the consequencies, which are far higher then a direct PM to the head.

This is just my advice. If you take it as a threat, then I cannot, and will not try, to convince you otherwise. If you are displeased, feel free to write a formal complaint.

Leave this forum for what it is supposed to do. Thank you.

My point is clear. Your continuing revival of the political issue is baffling since you said we should shy away from it in the first place. What is your intention? Everyone can see I've been adding value to this discussion with context and recent developments in the aviation market that affect the stakeholders. What have you done? What is your purpose here?

Take a read at what you've posted. Intimidation and threats do not work in here. They are all documented in the 3 pages. That's the support right there. I don't think anyone sits well when intimidated or threatened.

Have you contributed to an intellectual discussion of direct links and cross strait aviation news? No. You have maintained a narrow-minded focus to the word 'politics' and made all sorts of assumptions of the world coming to an end even though the discussion here has been peaceful and intellectual until your arrival while lashing out at deleting and notifying other moderators of a problem that doesn't exist. savethewtc emphasized political discussions are OK in a peaceful setting. You fail to realize that we're not talking politics here. Mentioning the word and discussing it are 2 completely different things.

On that note, here's another value-adding piece to help the other members reading this thread better understand why this topic is relevant. I hope you can contribute more to the well-being of this thread and forum. Feel free to leave if you are not achieving this objective.

Stakeholder Analysis

Airlines on both sides of the strait are concerned about the uncertainty in direct links negotiations following the Taiwanese election. From Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific and China Airlines are the predominant carriers flying the route. 17% of China Airlines' 2003 revenues were from Hong Kong, while Cathay Pacific derives 16% of its Available Seat Km (ASK) from North Asia, including Taiwan.

However, since CI and CX are well diversified international airlines, they will be least impacted by any direct links agreement. In fact, CI might even be able to fly directly to China if a deal is reached. The focus then turns to the regional carriers, such as Hong Kong's Dragonair and Air Macau - both owned by China National Aviation.

Dragonair has opened new destinations for passenger and cargo service. They have recently announced a fleet purchase to accomodate the expansion. In the past year they started flying to Bangkok and Tokyo. While they have a significant exposure to Taiwan, Dragonair is opening new markets and diversifying their operations.

Among the stakeholders, Macau International and Air Macau will incur the biggest losses if direct links are implemented. Macau Airport and Air Macau are heavily reliant on Taiwanese transfer passengers. In fact, most flights to Macau come from either Taipei or Shanghai.

On the other hand, Air Macau is negotiating with AirAsia to cooperate on routes to China. American investors are building new casinos and turning Macau into a major resort, possibly increasing flight demand. However, will the visitors travel by ferry from Hong Kong or fly to Macau directly?

My point is clear. Your continuing revival of the political issue is baffling since you said we should shy away from it in the first place. What is your intention? Everyone can see I've been adding value to this discussion with context and recent developments in the aviation market that affect the stakeholders. What have you done? What is your purpose here?

Take a read at what you've posted. Intimidation and threats do not work in here. They are all documented in the 3 pages. That's the support right there. I don't think anyone sits well when intimidated or threatened.

Have you contributed to an intellectual discussion of direct links and cross strait aviation news? No. You have maintained a narrow-minded focus to the word 'politics' and made all sorts of assumptions of the world coming to an end even though the discussion here has been peaceful and intellectual until your arrival while lashing out at deleting and notifying other moderators of a problem that doesn't exist. savethewtc emphasized political discussions are OK in a peaceful setting. You fail to realize that we're not talking politics here. Mentioning the word and discussing it are 2 completely different things.

On that note, here's another value-adding piece to help the other members reading this thread better understand why this topic is relevant. I hope you can contribute more to the well-being of this thread and forum. Feel free to leave if you are not achieving this objective.
If you feel that anyone is not contributing to a thread or to the forum, perhaps you might want to write in a complaint to halt his misbehavior, as I have already mentioned earlier?

Yes, a complaint has been sent and is being processed. You will hear from them soon.

Yes, a complaint has been sent and is being processed. You will hear from them soon.
Thank you for your coorperation. Meanwhile, I hope I am in the position to ask if you may show us the amount of traffic (by any measure possible) and trade which goes between Taiwan and HK, and between HK and China?

Hong Kong Tourism Statistics

Total Visitor Arrivals February 2004 - 1,454,486 (+3.3% Y/Y)
From Mainland China - 824,619
From Taiwan - 145,026

Hotel Occupancy Rate - 81%
Central & Admiralty Occupancy Rate - 89%

Total Visitor Arrivals 2003 - 15,536,839 (-6.2% Y/Y)
From Mainland China - 8,467,211
From Taiwan - 1,852,378

Commentary

Taiwan visitors account for 12% of total tourist arrivals in 2003. Note that some of these are transit passengers connecting at the airport directly while others are actual tourists who stay for several days before returning home or continuing to China.

Some 54% of tourist arrivals are from Mainland China, but most of these people visited Hong Kong for leisure and not to connect to Taiwan. A boom occurred late in the year when Beijing allowed residents in Guangdong and large Chinese cities to visit Hong Kong with individual visas.

Source : HKTA

Hong Kong 2003 External Trade Statistics ($HK millions)

Exports to All Markets - 1,742,436 (excluding re-exports)
China - 742,544
Taiwan - 42,269

Imports to All Markets - 1,805,770
China - 785,625
Taiwan - 125,203

Source : HK Trade Statistics, Census & Statistics Dept.

Tourism? Er....thanks for the info, but I was more interested in say the number of flights per week, or maybe people movements which includes those crossing the border for purposes not just for tourism, but for employment and other issues too. The usual "definition" of tourists tend to be those who stay for at least one night in HK anyway, and isnt really the information I was looking for....

I wonder if it is possible to measure shipping movements too?

There are more than 40 flights a day between Hong Kong and Taipei, shared by many airlines. Airlines are very sensitive about their ASK and RPK numbers and capacity figures are not available, so the next best thing is visitor arrivals. Air travel is the most favourite way for Taiwanese to get to Hong Kong and the mainland since Taiwan is an island and the flight is only an hour and a half.

There are limitations to the numbers. If Taiwanese passengers transit without passing through immigration, they won't be counted. A lot of Taiwanese actually connect directly at the airport.

Shipping Statistics
In 2003, Taiwan was the 2nd largest source for inward cargo (after China) at 13,652,000 tonnes and the 3rd largest destination for outward cargo (after China and US) at 3,317,000 tonnes.

Hmm....surely it is much easier to at least list out the number of flights by all airlines between HK and Taiwan, and from HK and China if all other information is unavailable?

Anyway....transit passengers arent counted in airport statistics?

Flight information is available from the Hong Kong airport website :
http://www.hkairport.com

However, note that each airline flies has its own fleet preference for the route. Each flight should not be regarded as equal to another due to capacity differences.

HK airport data includes transit and transfer passengers but does not break down by source / destination, hence visitor arrival information is the next best alternative.

Ok....so why not list down the number of flights per week for each airline, and the types of aircraft used. I am sure a good airport website should be able to provide that info, or by also combining with information from the airline websites.

For example, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, Seoul Incheon, and Kuala Lumpur International do not provide real-time arrival / departure flight information by airplane type. To the users who are checking when the plane leaves / arrives, the size of the plane is not a determining factor.

In fact, even if the flight type is shown, when two airlines fly the same type of aircraft, they may customize their planes to seat a different number of people. Small differences will add up to make a big difference.

Without capacity-related information directly from the airlines (ie. ASK, RPK), the number of flights per week, day, or hour are inconclusive and can be very misleading, and the massive effort to get that number is not going to change the high-level conclusion that the route is heavily travelled with large airplanes (not regional aircraft). The Hong Kong-Taipei route is a major capacity trunk route for both cities and serves as a vital link between Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.

Well...then as I already said....get the information from the airport AND airline sites! :D One cannot keep saying it is "big" without a quantifyable number to demonstrate just how big it is right?

And to remind, it would also be great to show the routes from HK to China mainland too.

40 flights a day is a lot of flights with or without actual capacity numbers. How many airports get 40 arrivals from the same city a day? Common sense leads to an obvious answer. I don't think an airline hunting exercise is needed to arrive at that conclusion. If you have so much time on your hands, you are more than welcome to do your thorough search and convey the results here since you know where to get the data so well.
:)

Here is a sampling of mainland China passenger flight arrivals for May 13th :
From Beijing - 11 actual arrivals (CA, CZ, KA)
From Shanghai - 24 actual arrivals (KA, MU)
From Guangzhou - 5 actual arrivals (CZ)

Mainland Airlines :
China Southern - 16 actual arrivals
China Eastern - 30 actual arrivals
Air China - 8 actual arrivals

For comparison :
From Tokyo - 12 actual arrivals
From Bangkok - 23 actual arrivals

40 flights a day is a lot of flights with or without actual capacity numbers. How many airports get 40 arrivals from the same city a day? Common sense leads to an obvious answer. I don't think an airline hunting exercise is needed to arrive at that conclusion. If you have so much time on your hands, you are more than welcome to do your thorough search and convey the results here since you know where to get the data so well.
:)

Here is a sampling of mainland China passenger flight arrivals for May 13th :
From Beijing - 11 actual arrivals (CA, CZ, KA)
From Shanghai - 24 actual arrivals (KA, MU)
From Guangzhou - 5 actual arrivals (CZ)

Mainland Airlines :
China Southern - 16 actual arrivals
China Eastern - 30 actual arrivals
Air China - 8 actual arrivals

For comparison :
From Tokyo - 12 actual arrivals
From Bangkok - 23 actual arrivals
Hmm...40 flights per day dosent sound like alot when there are 489 flights a week between Sg and Jakarta, for eg, giving us an average of 70 flights a day. I am not even going to discuss that between Sg and KL yet. Anyway, my purpose here is not to make those petty comparisons.

I would prefer to see actual numbers rather then an "estimation." Basically, I dont ask for you to do the research because I "doubt" that there is alot of traffic in those sectors. There are other more interesting reasons then that. And anyway, the sarcasm there is noted. :)

Actual numbers might not be worth the effort when the conclusion is the route is heavily travelled. Since you know where to get the data and you're asking the question, perhaps you can get the answer for yourself.

Also, note that of the 38 arrivals from Jakarta on May 13th, many were codeshare flights. Don't double-count them.

And then, something doesn't make sense here. You ask the question, yet you know the answer, but you're asking others to get it for you?

Actual numbers might not be worth the effort when the conclusion is the route is heavily travelled. Since you know where to get the data and you're asking the question, perhaps you can get the answer for yourself.

Also, note that of the 38 arrivals from Jakarta on May 13th, many were codeshare flights. Don't double-count them.

And then, something doesn't make sense here. You ask the question, yet you know the answer, but you're asking others to get it for you?
Where did you get the 38 flight figures from? I suppose that means you know where to get the data eh? :)

Yes. If you dont realise, in SSC, sometimes you make better friends by pretending to be ignorant and asking others to furnish information. They feel happier that way, rather then seeing you stuffing them with information all the time.

But then, that is just one reason. There might be alot more. But what is stopping you from furnishing the info? Dont you pride yourself for being able to do that all the time? I just dont see how this thread can be relevant when people dont even know how significant the whole issue is in raw numbers?

Where did you get the 38 flight figures from? I suppose that means you know where to get the data eh?


I've searched the Changi website. The search engine actually is giving me 28 now and from a quick glance there doesn't seem to be codeshare duplications. Where did you get the 70 from?

By the way, do all the passengers end their journey and clear customs in Singapore when they arrive from Jakarta? Some flights seem to make a stopover en route to other destinations so Jakarta passengers might not even get off the plane, hence they are not counted. Passengers from Taipei must get off the plane when they arrive in Hong Kong and go through the transfer desk or clear customs before continuing their flight. Does it make a difference in the comparison? Probably.


Yes. If you dont realise, in SSC, sometimes you make better friends by pretending to be ignorant and asking others to furnish information. They feel happier that way, rather then seeing you stuffing them with information all the time.


And I thought you were too lazy to search on your own and share the information with us. My, you did a good job 'pretending' you're ignorant.

I'm very keen on efficiency. Why waste the time to quantify everything to death when the answer is sitting right in front of you? Clearly the Taipei route is flown by many airlines with a frequent schedule. Are you an aviation expert? Is 40 a day a low number? I don't think so.

If the data looks funny or is inconclusive from the start then investigate more. Why post a million lengthy articles when a simple high-level number does the job perfectly?

Given the distribution of flight arrivals daily, and considering there are about 40 flight arrivals from Taipei daily, Taipei-Hong Kong is indeed a highly-travelled route for HKIA.

I've searched the Changi website. The search engine actually is giving me 28 now and from a quick glance there doesn't seem to be codeshare duplications. Where did you get the 70 from?

By the way, do all the passengers end their journey and clear customs in Singapore when they arrive from Jakarta? Some flights seem to make a stopover en route to other destinations so Jakarta passengers might not even get off the plane, hence they are not counted. Passengers from Taipei must get off the plane when they arrive in Hong Kong and go through the transfer desk or clear customs before continuing their flight. Does it make a difference in the comparison? Probably.



And I thought you were too lazy to search on your own and share the information with us. My, you did a good job 'pretending' you're ignorant.

I'm very keen on efficiency. Why waste the time to quantify everything to death when the answer is sitting right in front of you? Clearly the Taipei route is flown by many airlines with a frequent schedule. Are you an aviation expert? Is 40 a day a low number? I don't think so.

If the data looks funny or is inconclusive from the start then investigate more. Why post a million lengthy articles when a simple high-level number does the job perfectly?

Given the distribution of flight arrivals daily, and considering there are about 40 flight arrivals from Taipei daily, Taipei-Hong Kong is indeed a highly-travelled route for HKIA.
Erm....the thing is that I didnt even say the reasons I am asking the data for. Why is it that it seems as thou there is a conclusion that I just want the data to "proof/disproof" that there are high/low traffic on the Taiwan-HK sector?

All I asked is for raw, unbiased data. Its as simple as that! :)

Erm....the thing is that I didnt even say the reasons I am asking the data for. Why is it that it seems as thou there is a conclusion that I just want the data to "proof/disproof" that there are high/low traffic on the Taiwan-HK sector?

All I asked is for raw, unbiased data. Its as simple as that! :)

Maybe we can try to book a ticket from Taipei to HK or vice versa and see how many availabilities are found from the search engines of airlines or travel agencies....:D

Erm....the thing is that I didnt even say the reasons I am asking the data for. Why is it that it seems as thou there is a conclusion that I just want the data to "proof/disproof" that there are high/low traffic on the Taiwan-HK sector?

All I asked is for raw, unbiased data. Its as simple as that!

What are you trying to show with the data anyway? There must be a purpose before any decision to allocate time to get it. In fact, capacity is only one dimension of air traffic. Revenue is the other major piece, and that cannot be easily obtained if the airlines are not disclosing them - and a lot of them don't for competitive reasons.

There is no doubt that with about 40 flights a day the Taipei-Hong Kong route is a high-capacity trunk route. Similarly, with increases in capacity in the past few years, there must be a lot of demand for it - hence heavily travelled.

What are you trying to show with the data anyway? There must be a purpose before any decision to allocate time to get it. In fact, capacity is only one dimension of air traffic. Revenue is the other major piece, and that cannot be easily obtained if the airlines are not disclosing them - and a lot of them don't for competitive reasons.

There is no doubt that with about 40 flights a day the Taipei-Hong Kong route is a high-capacity trunk route. Similarly, with increases in capacity in the past few years, there must be a lot of demand for it - hence heavily travelled.
How come when others ask questions, others will provide the answers without asking questions?

Is anyone reading too much into my actions?

This is going to add more evidence into my case then...?

How come when others ask questions, others will provide the answers without asking questions?

When others ask questions, they don't provide an answer by mentioning where the answer is located, then the purpose of the question is put in doubt.

Why ask when you know the answer?

I'm perfectly happy to find an answer to a curious lad who doesn't know how to make that first step, but I may also decline to answer if the process is inefficient and not add value to the topic. There's no need to turn a million corners when there is a straight and easy path to go.

When others ask questions, they don't provide an answer by mentioning where the answer is located, then the purpose of the question is put in doubt.

Why ask when you know the answer?

I'm perfectly happy to find an answer to a curious lad who doesn't know how to make that first step, but I may also decline to answer if the process is inefficient and not add value to the topic. There's no need to turn a million corners when there is a straight and easy path to go.
Very nice words there, but was it evident from the very first post that I knew where the info is? :) Could there be a possibility that your reluctance to find information by claiming it is unavaiable lead to others attempting to find the same information just to see if you are just being difficult? :) And I still dunno the answer..for I have not done the research yet! :D

I am still wondering...why cant I qualify as a poor "curious lad" awaiting for someone to save me?

As I've said before, Cathay Pacific doesn't release Taiwan-only capacity and actual passenger revenue numbers. No matter where you look you won't find them. China Airlines discloses the percentage of revenue from Hong Kong routes, but doesn't go into detail about its Hong Kong capacity.

Finding which airplane flies at what hour is a very inefficient way to find capacity, and it's impossible to determine revenue. Does that change the conclusion that the route is heavily travelled?

In fact, you are the one that suggested finding the aircraft type to determine capacity.

I sense an argument that is not adding value to the topic once again. I'm not surprised by yet another attempt to bicker over unnecessary details. Perhaps some common sense can save that curious lad.

As I've said before, Cathay Pacific doesn't release Taiwan-only capacity and actual passenger revenue numbers. No matter where you look you won't find them. China Airlines discloses the percentage of revenue from Hong Kong routes, but doesn't go into detail about its Hong Kong capacity.

Finding which airplane flies at what hour is a very inefficient way to find capacity, and it's impossible to determine revenue. Does that change the conclusion that the route is heavily travelled?

In fact, you are the one that suggested finding the aircraft type to determine capacity.

I sense an argument that is not adding value to the topic once again. I'm not surprised by yet another attempt to bicker over unnecessary details. Perhaps some common sense can save that curious lad.
For the record, no one is asking for detailed specific capacity nor passenger revenue numbers, and in fact, not even the size of the planes being used, until there was a suggestion that merely looking at the frequency of flights is not good enough. I dont remember me asking for that specifically from anyone until there was such a comment. Of coz, we all know there is a shortage of information, but as a compromise, all I asked for in the begining was just the number of flights.

It is a very simple request indeed. When others decide to withhold information in a highly suspicious manner, preferring instead to turn it into a Q&A session of why the question is being asked in the first place, it only points to a few logical conclusions, which I see no need to share in this thread. Whatever the case, my "agenda" (if there was one?) has already been accomplished, with or without an answer from anyone.

Meanwhile, I believe there is still news about this issue isnt it? Do continue to post it if you wish. If it interesting. :)

Looking at the frequency of flights is the easiest and quickest way of noting how popular a route is. The reason is because if business travellers frequent the route, they demand convenient departure times, such as hourly. Of course distance will play a role, because there is no way a London - HK route, which has a lot of demand, can support an hourly service. In Taipei's case short turnaround and flight times make frequent departures possible.

Therefore, with 40 flights a day, there is a lot of demand for the route. 20% of China Airlines' revenues came from the Hong Kong route, while within North Asia, Cathay Pacific has substantially more flights to Taipei than to Tokyo or Seoul Incheon daily.

Airlines are very sensitive about their route information due to competitive positioning. Are you aware of the mechanics of the aviation industry? So in the absence of exact numbers for the route, this rough estimate will have to do.

An optimal solution is not always possible in the real world. Theory and practice often do not coincide. Sure, it's a simple request, but that doesn't mean there is a simple answer. I think I've emphasized that problem enough times already by now.

Here is an excerpt from a Time magazine article about Taiwanese investment in China and connecting how Hong Kong and Macau's roles :


March 15, 2004 / Vol. 163 No. 10
Trade Links - China's Economic Embrace
BY JOYCE HUANG | TAIPEI AND MICHAEL SCHUMAN | FUZHOU

That concern is expressed by many of the estimated 1 million taishang: workers and businessmen from Taiwan who, like Hsu, live full-time in mainland China. For more than a decade, this burgeoning community of expatriates has been busily knitting economic ties between the island and the mainland, despite cross-strait political tensions and Taipei's restrictions on investments in China. The two economies are already irrevocably intertwined. Beijing encourages investment, hoping that closer economic links will lead to political reunification. Taiwan's government acknowledges that some 50,000 companies from the island have invested $35 billion in the mainland since 1991. Some experts estimate the amount may actually total more than $100 billion if investments by offshore shell companies, set up by Taiwan businessmen to skirt regulations, are taken into account.

It's no surprise, then, that many people from Taiwan doing business on the mainland say they plan to vote in the upcoming presidential election for Chen's challenger, Lien Chan of the traditionally pro-business Kuomintang (KMT). "Lien will put cross-strait ties on a better path," says Hsu. If he wins, Lien is expected to lubricate commerce by expanding direct transportation links between China and Taiwan. (Current travel restrictions force most people and products from both places to pass through entrepôts such as Hong Kong and Macau en route, which increases costs.) Chen, meanwhile, is viewed by many as a loose cannon who could blunder into war with his pro-independence rhetoric. Looking to cash in on such fears, the KMT has been chasing votes by sending representatives to the mainland. The Guangdong office of a Taiwan business association is organizing transport for hundreds of thousands of expatriates from Taiwan to return to the island to cast their ballots.

Regardless of the election's outcome, the gravity of economics should continue to pull Taiwan and China closer. Chen's pro-independence stance notwithstanding, the President has been quietly easing cross-strait controls. Over the past three years, businessmen from Taiwan have been allowed to travel home through the Taiwan-controlled islands of Quemoy and Matsu, a short hop from the mainland coast, near Fuzhou. Beijing, meanwhile, continues to lobby for closer commercial links with the island. Manufacturers from Taiwan operating on the mainland provide key technologies for budding Chinese industries such as semiconductor manufacturing. Economic partnerships "have been a very strong factor that makes the two sides calm down a little bit," says Brian Chuang, managing director of jewelry maker Taifu Co. in Fuzhou. "We both need each other." China's leadership is banking on that pragmatic awareness, betting that money will ultimately trump less tangible aspirations.

Looking at the frequency of flights is the easiest and quickest way of noting how popular a route is. The reason is because if business travellers frequent the route, they demand convenient departure times, such as hourly. Of course distance will play a role, because there is no way a London - HK route, which has a lot of demand, can support an hourly service. In Taipei's case short turnaround and flight times make frequent departures possible.

Therefore, with 40 flights a day, there is a lot of demand for the route. 20% of China Airlines' revenues came from the Hong Kong route, while within North Asia, Cathay Pacific has substantially more flights to Taipei than to Tokyo or Seoul Incheon daily.

Airlines are very sensitive about their route information due to competitive positioning. Are you aware of the mechanics of the aviation industry? So in the absence of exact numbers for the route, this rough estimate will have to do.

An optimal solution is not always possible in the real world. Theory and practice often do not coincide. Sure, it's a simple request, but that doesn't mean there is a simple answer. I think I've emphasized that problem enough times already by now.
Point noted, although they basically do not say anything new, nor does it change perceptions much.

Just keep posting news. It gets more interesting that way.

Exactly, the points have always been there. The wheel isn't being reinvented as the thread develops. Perceptions might not change, but they can still be wrong.

Exactly, the points have always been there. The wheel isn't being reinvented as the thread develops. Perceptions might not change, but they can still be wrong.
The "perceptions" wasent even refering to the thread contents actually. And this line just added another facet to it. Second tip...just post more news.....:)

News can only go so far. Here is more value-adding analysis. I hope more people would go beyond the news and provide their insights and thoughts about this issue to eliminate any false perceptions.

Analysis - The Travel Industry

Many Hong Kongers like to visit Taiwan for a long weekend. While Thailand draws more Hong Kong tourists than Taiwan, Taiwan is still a very popular tourist destination. Tours typicall last 3-4 days for Taipei and as long as 5 days for Taipei - Kaohsiung while tours to Thailand last 5 days.

The time factor is quite important, since the flight time to Taipei is about half of that to Bangkok, and sometimes it's hard for workers to get too many days off to assemble a 5-day holiday. An added disincentive is the tour price increase around holidays when a 5-day vacation is possible. Hence many people like to fly to Taiwan for a weekend and take a day off during low season.

Taiwan has also simplified visa requirements for Hong Kong residents. HK visitors can now apply for visas on the spot when they land in Taiwan, and the process is quite simple and quick.

From Taiwan's 2002 Annual Report on Tourism
"Outbound travelers from Hong Kong numbered 64,540,132 in 2002, up 5.6% over the previous year; most of these travelers (55,648,363) visited mainland China, followed by Macau (4,182,402). Excluding these two destinations, the number of Hong Kong residents traveling overseas in 2002 amounted to 4,709,367, down 1.87%; the five largest overseas destinations were, in order, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines."

" Taiwan registered 2,726,411 visitor arrivals in 2002 (excluding arrivals from mainland China); this was an increase of 109,274 over the year before, for a growth of 4.18%. Foreign visitors totaled 2,354,017, for an increase of 62,146 (up 2.71%) over 2001 2,291,871; overseas Chinese visitors numbered 372,394, up 47,127 (14.49%) over the 325,266 recorded the year before.

Growth trends for major market areas are shown by the arrivals statistics for 2002: Japan, 986,053 visitors, up 1.53%; Hong Kong and Macau, 435,080, down 10.83%; the U.S., 354,087, up 4.33%; and Singapore, 107,380, up 10.96%. Major factors in these increases were the launching of new advertising campaigns in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, and America; the extension of visa-free entry privileges to citizens of Singapore and Malaysia; and the offering of landing visas to arrivals from Hong Kong and Macau. "

http://202.39.225.136/auser/B/Annual_2002/english/a_r_image/G%20chap%2001/P32A-CHART.jpg

Tourism Market Analysis

Hong Kong is a major source of tourism for Taiwan. However, despite many airlines flying between the two places, HK tour agencies tend to book their group plane tickets with just 3 airlines. Discount tours of about HK$1500 and less tend to fly with China Airlines and EVA while premium tours fly Cathay Pacific or Dragonair. There are exceptions depending on the tourism cycle (time of year).

In fact, China Airlines is a very popular discount carrier not just for Taiwan-bound passengers. CI actually flies from Hong Kong to many points in Southeast Asia, including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. Travel agencies like to use CI for their discount tours (ie. Bangkok/Pattaya 5 days for HK$1000).

Thus, the Taiwan-Hong Kong market is not only a business route, but also a big consumer tourist route as well.

News can only go so far. Here is more value-adding analysis. I hope more people would go beyond the news and provide their insights and thoughts about this issue to eliminate any false perceptions.
Hilarious. When questions beyond the news were asked, they were ignored and considered redundant. Now this...

What questions beyond news are redundant? You know, some questions are dumber than others, and if you bring in an apple into a discussion about grapes, of course the apple's quite irrelevant and subsequently ignored.

Are you trying to stir up an argument from nothing once again?

What questions beyond news are redundant? You know, some questions are dumber than others, and if you bring in an apple into a discussion about grapes, of course the apple's quite irrelevant and subsequently ignored.

Are you trying to stir up an argument from nothing once again?
Arguement? I see no argument. All I see are sarcastic comments which seem to be much better evidence in trying to incite others and cause an argument, especially when they are pointedly personal. All the evidence has been gathered.

I watched how you respond to a very simple question, and the reactions are all noted. I steadfastly refused to respond to those pointed comments, merely quoting them as I note each time it was done.

It is too bad I have to reveal this prematurely, but I suppose it is fair for you to realise that since days ago, evidence of misbehavior is being collected, and will be collected from now henceforth. If you see any reason to "retaliate" in any manner, I am not going to stop you. But allow me to advise you one last time, that personal and pointed comments should basically be avoided especially when non-provoked. I am making effort to do just that, and I hope you reciprocate. If you give me no reason to quote your comments, I dont see why anyone needs to go personal again.

I leave it to you to decide your next course of action.

Enjoy the forums. :)

Ironic you don't like sarcasm. You post a lot of it yourself.

My comments are general and can apply to everyone, so I don't need to quote you in particular. If you find yourself at fault of these problems then you don't have to feel offense and respond. Meanwhile, you enjoy persecuting my posts, which I find quite funny.

Feel free to collect all the evidence you need. Your interpretation will be wrong, but of course I won't stop you. It won't stop me from analyzing the topic here.

Do a count and see how many news and value-adding discussion posts you have made and how many I have made. You haven't tried as hard as I have to give insight into direct links and how they affect the stakeholders. Ironic that you accuse me, without reason and logic, for misbehaviour when I'm doing what I am supposed to do here. And what have you done? Make petty arguments to drag away from the main discussion.

Learn first, then enjoy the forums. :)

Here is more analysis :
Aviation Safety

There has been a lot of bad news from Taiwanese and mainland carriers in the past decade. While the situation has improved in the mainland after a rash of big crashes in the early 1990's, the situation in Taiwan is only starting to improve. 2 major recent crashes were from China Airlines as their jets approached Hong Kong. The first one occurred in the summer of 1999 when a CI flight from Bangkok crash landed during a typhoon, flipping on the runway and killing 3.

The second one took place in May 2002 when CI 611 disintegrated over the skies off Taiwan's west coast as it flew from Taipei to HK. All 200+ people died.

While safety should not play a major role in how direct links negotiations turn out, they are a major concern on the consumer end - the tourists and business travellers that fly the routes. Presently, Hong Kong carriers have the best safety records for carriers that fly to both the mainland and Taiwan (for the HK transit market). Meanwhile, mainland regulators are moving quickly to consolidate their airlines into 3 major groups around 3 hub cities while trying hard to improve service and safety. Perhaps when direct links do happen, the aviation landscape in East Asia will be far different from today.

Ironic you don't like sarcasm. You post a lot of it yourself.

My comments are general and can apply to everyone, so I don't need to quote you in particular. If you find yourself at fault of these problems then you don't have to feel offense and respond. Meanwhile, you enjoy persecuting my posts, which I find quite funny.

Feel free to collect all the evidence you need. Your interpretation will be wrong, but of course I won't stop you. It won't stop me from analyzing the topic here.

Do a count and see how many news and value-adding discussion posts you have made and how many I have made. You haven't tried as hard as I have to give insight into direct links and how they affect the stakeholders. Ironic that you accuse me, without reason and logic, for misbehaviour when I'm doing what I am supposed to do here. And what have you done? Make petty arguments to drag away from the main discussion.

Learn first, then enjoy the forums. :)
Your point is taken. Anyhow, it isnt up to me to do the interpretation. :)

Tuesday June 1, 5:21 PM
Taiwan needs transport links with China to stay competitive, U.S. business leaders say

Taiwan's plans to become an Asian business hub are in jeopardy because the island hasn't lifted a five-decade ban on direct air and shipping links with its biggest rival, China, a group of U.S. business leaders said Tuesday.

The lack of direct transport links is forcing multinational companies to shift their senior executives from Taiwan to Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, according to the annual white paper issued by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.

But the U.S. group offered little specific advice about how Taiwan could start negotiations with its giant communist neighbor, which the report acknowledged adopts a "truculent and often haughty attitude" toward the island, just 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the Chinese coast.

Taiwan has resisted Beijing's rule since the Communists won a bloody civil war and took over the mainland in 1949. After the conflict, the Taiwanese banned direct transport to the mainland, fearing that air and ship traffic could pose a security risk. China has repeatedly threatened to use force to unify the two sides.

But the transport ban is seriously hampering Taiwan's global competitiveness, said Andrea Wu, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. Travelers have to stop in a third point, such as Hong Kong, before going to China.

"Multinational companies here are facing increasing difficulties in carrying out a regional business plan from Taiwan without direct transport links with China," Wu told reporters. "Without those links, Taiwan's plans to develop the island as a regional hub are also in jeopardy."

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has repeatedly said that he's ready to open direct links with China. But he has said that he won't cut a deal with China that compromises the democratic island's sovereignty.

Meanwhile, China has insisted that Chen agree that Taiwan is part of China and that the transport links would be domestic routes - demands the Taiwanese leader has refused to accept because he fears they would amount to surrendering Taiwan's sovereignty to a repressive communist power.

But Wu stressed that Taiwan - the world's 17th largest economy - needs to focus more on the economic benefits of its relationship with China. "Taiwan's proximity to China must be embraced as an economic strength, not just guarded against as a political risk," she said.

The white paper noted that business ties are booming between the rivals. China has replaced the United States as Taiwan's top trading partner, and Taiwanese have invested more than US$70 billion in some 50,000 businesses in China.

One important change Taiwan could make without negotiating with China would be to ease visa and work permit regulations that make it difficult for companies to bring Chinese staff to Taiwan for conferences, meetings and training, the white paper said.

Wednesday July 14, 3:55 PM
CHINA WATCH: Direct Taiwan-China Transport Links Far Off
By Katy Chang

A Dow Jones Newswires Column

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--When China declared recently that opening direct transport links with Taiwan was an economic issue, not a political one, Taiwanese airline stocks soared. But concrete steps toward opening air and shipping routes across the Taiwan Strait are probably still a long way off.

Beijing's declaration was important because it was an initial sign of an easing in bilateral tensions since Taiwan's March presidential election, which was won by incumbent President Chen Shui-bian - a man whom Beijing deeply dislikes because of his moves toward declaring Taiwan formally independent of China.

Earlier this year, Beijing had called for Chen to publicly accept the "one China" principle - that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China - before any negotiations on direct transport links could proceed. Now it appears Beijing has backed away from that tough stance.

On June 30, Li Weiyi, spokesman for China's cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office, said political issues surrounding "one China" could be sidestepped in negotiations on direct links, which were "an economic issue".

Li's comment sent airline shares in Taiwan rocketing; the island's largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW), surged 5.7% on the following day, while EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW) jumped 4.3%.

But most political experts believe Beijing and Taipei are still years away from direct transport ties. For one thing, Beijing tried and failed in past years to engage Taiwan on the issue by professing to be willing to ignore the political implications.

And China continues to insist that direct links are a "domestic matter". By using this phrase, it implies that Taiwan is legally part of China - not a stance which will please Taipei.

"Treating direct links as domestic is a way for Beijing to say Taiwan is in effect accepting 'one China' - a way for China to be more flexible while domestically asserting it's keeping Taiwan in the fold," said Susan Shirk, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

She believes formal discussions on direct links are still a year or so away.

The semantics of the issue could continue to stymie negotiations for a long time; Taiwan insists foreign-flagged ships should be allowed to sail on cross-Strait routes, making the Taiwan Strait an "international" waterway.

Taiwan Strait A Barrier To Business

Taiwan is caught in a balancing act between defense considerations and asserting its political sovereignty on the one hand, and the economic logic of direct transport links on the other. Opening direct links would save an estimated NT$15 billion (US$1=NT$33.73) a year for the transport sector, reduce shipping costs by 15%-30% for enterprises, and cut shipping and passenger travel times in half by eliminating the need to go through third territories such as Hong Kong.

Skeptics of direct links warn that Taiwan's economy could become marginalized, as direct transport could speed up the hollowing out of Taiwan's manufacturing sector as companies migrate to China. Others worry that direct links could make political reunification with China inevitable, as greater economic dependence on China would produce "de facto" reunification over time.

If Taiwan's Nationalist opposition had won the March election, it would probably have become easier for Taipei and Beijing to finesse the political issues and get down to talks; the Nationalists are widely viewed as more conciliatory toward China.

There's much more bad blood between Beijing and President Chen's Democratic Progressive Party. "Beijing isn't willing to talk (to Chen's administration) officially," Shirk said.

Some China watchers think Beijing's reluctance stems from a desire not to boost Chen's credibility, and they believe an alternate mode of negotiations - such as talks between private groups put forward by China - would be needed to break the stalemate.

Fu Don-Cheng, director of economic affairs at Taiwan's cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, said: "We're in the process of formulating ways to delegate some levels of direct-links talks to private industry, but obviously both governments still need to be involved."

Fu thinks China probably won't be prepared to talk before seeing the outcome of Taiwan's legislative election in December, although he refrained from ruling anything out, saying talks should occur "as soon as possible".

However, there's doubt over how much Chen's administration really wants to discuss direct links, and how much it's just pretending to be willing in order to retain support in the Taiwanese business community.

Shirk doesn't expect China to show any new flexibility within a year or more, since after Chen's re-election, "efforts to win hearts and minds, using peaceful inducements and positive appeals, are deemed to have failed - there's pressure to use coercion and to sound tough in Beijing."

And even after serious talks on direct links begin, it's likely to take many months to work out the mechanics of security procedures and commercial rights, before air and shipping services are introduced and expanded in stages.

Tuesday August 17, 7:03 PM
Taiwan's president seeks compromise with China on direct transport links

(AP) Taiwan's leader on Tuesday proposed sidestepping the touchy sovereignty issue with China and opening up direct shipping and air links by calling them "transport routes between the two sides," a Taiwanese news agency reported.

But the proposal appeared unlikely to satisfy Chinese leaders, who deeply distrust President Chen Shui-bian and have shown no willingness to compromise with him.

Taiwan has banned direct flights and shipping with China since a civil war split the two sides in 1949. The rivals have been unable to open the transport ties because long-standing political feuds continue to block the talks.

Beijing has insisted on calling the transport links across the 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile) Taiwan Strait "domestic" routes. But Taiwan wants them to be labeled "international" routes.

On Tuesday, the Taiwanese president told business leaders that the sovereignty issue could be avoided by simply calling the links "transport routes between the two sides," the state-funded Central News Agency reported.

But Chen said that he won't accept an agreement that calls the transport links "domestic links," the report said.

"Not only can I not accept this, but the nation's people will in no way accept this," the report quoted Chen as saying.

Beijing has long insisted that before negotiations begin with Taiwan, the island must accept that it's an inseparable part of China. Chen has been refusing to do this, fearing it would sacrifice Taiwan's sovereignty to a country he considers to be repressive.

delete

SEPT 10, 2004
Taiwanese, Chinese airlines sign first mileage agreement

TAIPEI - Taiwan's largest carrier and the mainland's China Eastern Airlines said on Friday they will begin sharing mileage programs beginning Oct 1 in the first such deal between airlines across the Taiwan Strait.

The arrangement will allow passengers flying Taiwan's China Airlines to continue accumulating frequent flier miles after they change planes and fly China Eastern to the mainland, the Taiwanese carrier said in a statement.

The two carriers cannot fly directly between Taiwan and China because the government here has banned such flights after the rivals split amid civil war in 1949. Most travellers stop in Hong Kong or Macau and change airlines before flying on to Taiwan or China.

China Airlines said it offers a total 105 weekly flights to Hong Kong from Taiwan's two biggest cities: Taipei and Kaohsiung.

'At the first stage, all China Airlines international flights and sectors of China Eastern's Hong Kong-Shanghai and Okinawa-Shanghai flights will be eligible for this cooperation programme,' the Taiwanese carrier said.

'In the future, both airlines will expand the cooperation network,' the company said. 'China Airlines is also negotiating mileage program cooperation with other Chinese carriers.'

Long-standing political disputes have blocked Taiwan and China from signing a pact that would allow direct flights. Taiwan's government has been under increasing pressure from a growing number of Taiwanese businesses that have invested heavily in China to open up direct transport links.

Taiwan's government has estimated that Taiwanese make more than 3 million trips to China each year.

The government has said opening direct flights would reduce passengers' travel costs by about NT$13.2 billion (US$388.2 million) per year and reduce their travel time by 8.6 million hours. -- AP

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Here is another perspective from the Dow Jones newswire :

China Eastern, Taiwan's China Air Link Air Miles Programs
Friday September 10, 6:00 AM EDT

SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA), a leading mainland China
carrier, and Taiwan's China Airlines (2610.TW) signed an agreement Friday linking their frequent flier programs.

Under the agreement, which takes effect Oct. 1, members of China Eastern's Eastern Miles program will be able to
accumulate air miles when flying on China Airlines, while members of the Taiwanese carrier's Dynasty program will
be able to do the same when flying on the Shanghai-based carrier, company executives said at a press
conference.

Members of the programs will also be able to trade their air miles for tickets or upgrades in either airline's mileage
program on selected routes, the carriers said.

Taiwanese traveling back and forth between the island and China for business are expected to be the main
beneficiaries initially, as mass Chinese travel to Taiwan remains restricted by both Taipei and Beijing.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 amid civil war and direct flights
between the two have been banned since. Cross-strait travel
is usually via Hong Kong and involves a change of carrier.

About 500,000 Taiwanese are estimated to live in the Yangtze
River delta region around Shanghai, and Taiwanese business
people will likely make up the bigger portion of the mileage
exchange program initially, said Brian Zhou, senior vice
president of marketing at Taiwan's largest carrier.

The most significant deal between the two airlines was China
Airlines' acquisition of a 25% stake in a cargo unit controlled
by China Eastern.

-By J.R. Wu, Dow Jones Newswires; 8621 6218-3268;
jr.wu@dowjones.com

-Edited by Andrew Bullard

Airlines fight competition from China

CROSS-STRAIT FLIGHTS: An agreement between China and Hong Kong to improve air services has prompted local carriers to look at means of enhancing their appeal

By Jessie Ho
STAFF REPORTER, THE TAIPEI TIMES
Saturday, Sep 11, 2004, Page 10

Local air carriers are pondering ways of improving their cross-strait routes in response to an agreement signed by China and Hong Kong to expand passenger and cargo air services, which may snatch a slice out of Taiwanese airlines' profits, company officials said.

Beijing on Wednesday announced a plan to open more flights between Hong Kong and various cities in China. Under the agreement, overall passenger capacity between China and Hong Kong will be increased by 30 percent from next month, which gives Hong Kong carriers an advantage in operating cross-strait routes in terms of time and costs.

"I think the pact will more or less influence our business on China routes ... we will provide more incentives to secure our customers," said Roger Han, spokesman for China Airlines, the nation's largest carrier.

China Airlines and smaller rival EVA Airways Corp fly to various cities in China via Hong Kong or Macau. As direct transportation between Taiwan and China is still banned, the two companies work with Chinese airlines to carry their passengers from Hong Kong or Macau to China.

Although Hong Kong and Macau airlines departing from Taipei also need to stop at a third destination before flying to China, they are allowed to enter the communist country with the same planes, which shortens transfer times and reduces the hassle of moving passengers from one plane to another. In addition, these carriers have more flexibility in cost control compared with Taiwanese carriers.

Currently, Air Macau is applying the model, which allows it to keep stopover times to under an hour.

The strategy works to attract business travelers, said Jerry Lin, a deputy manager at Lion Travel Service Co, the nation's largest travel agency.

Lin said although Air Macau offers only three flights a week from Taipei to Shanghai, the destination in China most visited by Taiwanese travelers, the company's service has attracted many business travelers, which constitute 70 percent of all Taiwanese passengers flying to China.

As Chinese carriers have bad records as far as following flight schedules is concerned, business passengers tend to choose Air Macau to avoid delays, Lin said.

Han said that local carriers' business will be significantly affected if Cathay Pacific Airways, the dominant carrier in Hong Kong, and smaller Dragonair also adopt the model.

To secure customers, China Airlines announced a deal to cooperate on its mileage programs with China Eastern Airlines Corp to transfer its customers from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The plan would enable passengers of China Airlines flying between Taiwan and China to accumulate airmiles on the entire trip, starting next month.

Han said China Airlines hopes to create more frequent flyers with the partnership, adding that the company intends to extend the program to Air China, which carries its passengers to Beijing.

China Airlines will also seek other stopover destinations, Han said. For example, passengers going to Shanghai will be able to stop over in Okinawa, which has a smaller airport and would ensure easier and faster transfers, he said.

EVA Airways' public relations specialist Eric Lin said his company is also aware of the potential threat and has engaged in talks with partners to improve service and reduce transfer times.

Copyright 2004 South China Morning Post Ltd.
October 2, 2004

Taipei asks for dialogue on air links
Jacky Hsu in Taipei

Taipei has invited Beijing to send a delegation to the island to discuss charter flight services between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"The mainland side has called for bilateral charter flight services, and we do not rule this out," said Joseph Wu Jau-shieh, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council.

"As the issue would involve changing the current flight route, we have invited the mainland to send a delegation here to negotiate."

Mr Wu said any delegation was welcome, as long as it had the proper authorisation from Beijing.

But he said such the talks should be held with no preconditions - such as Taipei having to agree to the one-China policy.

Taiwan launched a charter flight service two years ago on a trial basis during the Lunar New Year holiday, and only Taiwanese airliners were allowed to operate the service via a third location, such as Macau and Hong Kong.

There was no repeat of the charter flights during last year's Lunar New Year holiday after the mainland called for a reciprocal service.

Mr Wu appealed for peace with the mainland, saying the two sides should sit down and talk.

The central government is not expected to immediately embrace Mr Wu's offer as it has consistently said that any talks between the two sides must be held in accordance with the one-China principle.

Thursday October 7, 9:12 AM
Taipei Mayor Touts Sungshan Airport for Direct Links

TAIPEI, Oct 7 Asia Pulse - Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou was keenly touting Sungshan Airport as a hub for direct transport links with mainland China, saying that the opening will reduce travel time for Taiwan businessmen traveling between the two sides by more than 25 per cent.

Ma made the remarks at a seminar Tuesday with local business community leaders and representatives.

Claiming that direct air links between Taipei, Shanghai and Dongguan will save passengers a great deal of time, Ma contended that Taipei's Sungshan Airport should be made into an exclusive gateway for cross-strait travel, while Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in neighboring Taoyuan should continue to handle international passenger and cargo travel.

Ma said that Taiwan should make the move to sharpen its competitive edge and create business opportunities in view of the grouping of economies in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia by 2010, when mainland China is slated to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan and South Korea.

By that time, the economic development in Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian countries will be integrated, he said.

Apart from this, he pointed out, the closer economic partnership arrangements inked by the mainland with Hong Kong and Macau will put Taiwan at a disadvantage, as a large number of products from the two territories are set to enjoy "zero-tariff" treatment.

Should Taiwan fail to make breakthroughs in FTAs with other countries, it will lose the vast mainland market to Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries, he warned.

Compared with the mainland, which absorbs US$50 billion in foreign investment per year, Taiwan took in only US$3.6 billion last year, he noted.

The Taipei mayor said that Taiwan cannot afford to overlook the mainland market, citing a forecast by the Far Eastern Economic Review that the mainland will have replaced the United States as the world's largest economy by 2020.

(CNA)

Monday October 11, 7:38 AM
Taiwan President Calls for Cross-Strait Talks on 3 Links

TAIPEI, Oct 11 Asia Pulse - President Chen Shui-bian called for talks on direct "three-links" between Taiwan and mainland China as soon as possible on the Republic of China's National Day on Sunday.

In his address delivered at the 2004 National Day rally held in front of the Presidential Office, Chen noted that the executive branch is currently formulating a plan to provide convenient and efficient ways to facilitate charter flights for passengers and cargo.


"It is our earnest hope that cross-strait consultations can begin as soon as possible to seek further progress in the 'three-link' policy," Chen stressed.

Officials of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said the president's address extended considerable goodwill to mainland China, and if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can therefore begin talks and realize the "three-links," economic and trade development on both sides can prosper.

Given the frequent cross-strait economic and trade interactions, the Chinese market will continue to have a high degree of political risk if talks cannot begin, MOEA officials warned.

Representatives of the civil aviation industry echoed the president's words by expressing the hope that direct air transportation can be established as soon as possible between Taiwan and China, which they said could save a great deal in transportation costs between the two sides and thus accelerate cross-strait exchanges.

Currently, carriers operating flights between Taiwan and mainland China are required to stop at a third place -- Hong Kong or Macau -- since direct cross-strait air links are prohibited.

Officials of China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp. said they will do whatever the government stipulates, and said that they hope that detailed regulations can be drawn up soon.

They also expressed the hope that the Chinese government can respond positively to President Chen's appeals.

Noting that Taiwanese businessmen make a total of four million visits between Taiwan and China via Hong Kong a year, the officials said the additional cost spent by passengers for interruption in travel is about NT$30 billion (US$884 million).

Figure in the additional costs for the aviation industry, and indirect cross-strait air transport increases the total transport cost by NT$100 billion, the officials added.

They called for an early implementation of convenient transport between the two sides to reduce the costs in time and money.

(CNA)

Impasse over strait flights blamed on Taipei's obstruction
Nailene Chou Wiest and Jacky Hsu
14 October 2004
South China Morning Post

Beijing yesterday took an unyielding position on Taipei's proposal for charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, saying such services must be treated as "domestic affairs".

Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhang Mingqing said Beijing's position - summarised in a 12-word precondition issued last year - was that such flights were domestic affairs and the current impasse between the two sides on the issue was because Taipei did not agree on the precondition.

The precondition stated that direct flights across the Taiwan Strait must be "domestic, bilateral and reciprocal as well as beneficial to the two sides".

Mr Zhang said the mainland made an exception last year to allow Taiwanese airlines to operate charter flights that touched down in Hong Kong. Authorities in Fujian made arrangements to help Taiwanese businessmen return to the island for Lunar New Year celebrations in January - even though full charter services had not been set up this year.

The spokesman stressed that Beijing would not harm the interests of Taiwanese businessmen who had invested in the mainland, despite the mainland's struggle with what he called "independent forces" in Taiwan.

"We always believe Taiwanese compatriots are our brothers in flesh and blood," Mr Zhang said. "You can rest assured that they are different from [Taiwanese President] Chen Shui-bian and his cohorts, who stubbornly insist on taking the Taiwan independence path."

Taiwan responded to Mr Zhang's comment yesterday by saying cross-strait bilateral flights should not be blocked by political obstacles.

"We should not let the 12-word precondition become an obstacle to future lunar New Year charter flights between the two sides," said cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai.

Chiu Tai-san, spokesman and vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said the cross-strait issue hinged on one word - "willingness".

"If the mainland is willing to do something, it can drop its precondition," he said.

"The Lunar New Year charter flight was a good example. At that time, Beijing did not insist on the 'one-China' principle before finally giving the green light."

BBC Monitoring International Reports
October 11, 2004

TAIWAN AIR CARRIERS POISED FOR CROSS-STRAIT DIRECT LINKS

Taipei, 11 October: Taiwan-based air carriers are keenly hoping for direct transport links across the Taiwan Strait after President Chen Shui-bian called for an early resumption of negotiations on the issue in his 10 October National Day address.

Chen said that the government's executive branch is currently devising a plan to provide a convenient and swift way to facilitate charter flights for passengers and cargo, and he voiced his hope that cross-strait consultations can begin as soon as possible to seek further progress in the "three-links" policy.

China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways Corporation - Taiwan's two largest aviation companies - said that they Beijing should respond quickly to Chen's call considering that the move would benefit both sides.

Taking factors such as travel time, fuel costs and market share into consideration, they contended that technical issues centring on cargo travel are easier to handle and urged the Taiwan authorities to put forward concrete measures, such as allowing mainland China's carriers to offer the same services.

According to the civil aviation sector, Taiwan people make about four million trips every year to mainland China via a third country or area, incurring an extra cost of about NT$ 30 billion.

If extra flying time and fuel costs are added, they pointed out that the total cost through a third area - usually Hong Kong or Macao - is about 100bn NT dollars (2.94bn dollars) per year.

According to estimates by the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) , the volume of present indirect cargo travel between Taiwan and mainland China amounts to around 73,000 tons each year. MAC officials said that the level will further increase after travel links are set up.

In an effort to tap the cross-strait market, CAL has signed an accord for joint operations with the mainland's Air China, China Southern Airlines Co, Ltd. and China Eastern Air, Ltd. It also inked cooperative ventures with shipping and bus companies based in Hong Kong to provide better land and sea travel.

CAL, Taiwan's No 1 carrier, opened an office in Guangzhou earlier this year and has increased flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

A CAL executive said that there will be no technical problems for cross-strait air travel and that they welcome other aviation companies to join the service. He said that CAL will do its best to cooperate with the government when concrete measures are worked out and put in place.

The MAC has announced that future cross-strait routes will be open to six carriers based in Taiwan.

An assessment by the Taipei Aviation Industry Association shows that direct cross-strait air links will help passengers flying between the two sides save some 50 per cent in travel time on single trips and that carriers can save from 50,000 to 80,000 US dollars in operating costs on a round trip.

Meanwhile, stock market watchers predicted that President Chen's proposal on this front will inject momentum to shipping and aviation company shares in the coming days.

Source: Central News Agency web site, Taipei, in English 1116 gmt 11 Oct 04

Friday October 22, 8:04 AM
Chinese New Year Cross-Strait Charter Flights a Possibility

TAIPEI, Oct 22 Asia Pulse - Direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday may still be possible, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san said.

Chiu said even though Beijing may be unwilling to discuss with Taiwan the opening of regular direct cross-strait charter passenger and cargo flights before the island's Dec. 11 legislative elections, it may still be willing to consider special cross-strait charter flights during the lunar new year holiday to facilitate the return of Taiwan business people operating in mainland China, commonly known as "taishang," for family reunions.

Mainland China allowed major Taiwan carriers to operate special charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei/Kaohsiung via Hong Kong/Macau during the 2003 Chinese New Year holiday for the convenience of home-bound "taishang." Such services were not offered during the 2004 Chinese New Year season because Beijing declined to negotiate technical details for mainland Chinese carriers to operate similar charter flights.

If the two sides can reach an agreement allowing Taiwan and mainland Chinese carriers to operate special non-stop, cross-strait charter flights during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, which runs from Feb. 6-13, 2005, Chiu said, it will mark a new breakthrough in the development of cross-strait relations.

(CNA)

Copyright 2004 China Economic News Service
Taiwan Economic News
November 11, 2004

NEGOTIATIONS ON CROSS-STRAIT CHARTER FLIGHTS MAY FOLLOW TAIWAN-H.K FLIGHT TALKS MODE

Taipei, Nov. 11, 2004 (CENS)--Under the instruction of President Chen Shui-bian, the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) will son invite representativesof six leading industrial and business associations and air cargo carriers to conduct preparatory negotiations prior to cross-strait transportation talks with mainland China

At a national security meeting held yesterday, President Chen expressed his goodwill attitude toward direct transportation between Taiwan and the mainland.

He said both sides could follow the Taiwan-Hong Kong negotiation mode to settle passenger and freight charter flights. At the meeting, Chen also instructed relevant government agencies to promote economic, trade and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

Some heads of industrial and business associations, including Earle J.S. Ho, chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, and Hsu
Sheng-hsiung, chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, hailed President Chen's expression, saying it would benefit
both sides in the fields of economic, trade, cultural and personnel exchanges

China Airlines Ltd. and Eva Airways Corporation said they hope the charter flight negotiation can be smoothly carried out and it's not very important as to
which negotiation mode would be adopted by both sides. They noted they would be able to offer sufficient flight fleets as soon as the policy is finalized.

November 12, 2004 Friday
DIRECT AIR CONNECTIONS WITH CHINA BACK ON AGENDA IN TAIWAN

Asia Pulse - Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu expounded on the formula used in signing the Taiwan-Hong Kong aviation agreement in June 2002 in preparation for negotiations on the opening of direct cross-Taiwan Strait charter cargo flights and Chinese New Year charter passenger flights.

Wu said the formula implies three basic principles -- shelving disputes without imposing any premises or prerequisites; resolving issues with mutual respect and pragmatism; being guided by the governments while enlisting private-sector assistance.

Wu's explanations came a day after President Chen Shui-bian directed relevant government agencies to actively promote the resumption of dialogue with Beijing on the basis of the bilateral meetings in Hong Kong in 1992.

At the beginning, Chen went on, the two sides can negotiate the opening of two-way, non-stop cross-strait charter cargo flights and Chinese New Year charter passenger flights in line with the formula set forth in the 2002 Taiwan-Hong Kong aviation pact negotiations.

Under the formula, the Taiwan government authorized a non-governmental airline association to negotiate the aviation pact with Hong Kong, with officials from the MAC and the Civil Aeronautics Administration joining the talks as advisers to the association.

Wu said the MAC and other government agencies will follow the above-mentioned principles in pushing for opening of two-way, non-stop cross-strait charter cargo flights and charter passenger flights for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, which will run from Feb. 6, 2005 through Feb. 13.

The nation's top mainland policy planner further said the MAC will organize a seminar on cross-strait charter flight issues Friday, with the participation of government officials and industry executives.

"The seminar will serve as a platform for the government to exchange views with relevant industry representatives on direct cross-strait charter flight issues, " Wu said, adding that MAC Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san will brief the press on technical details after the seminar.

Two mainland Chinese officials -- Li Xiaoyun, director of the Cross-Strait Economic and Technological Exchange Center under mainland China's Taiwan Affairs Office, and Feng Chuozhe, president of Beijing's state-run Cross-Strait Travel Service, arrived in Taipei Wednesday for a private visit.

Reporters had speculated that Li and Feng are visiting Taiwan to discuss issues regarding the opening of direct cross-strait charter passenger flights during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, as well as the opening of Taiwan to mainland Chinese tourists.

However, MAC officials said they have no plan for a meeting with the two mainland officials.

"We have no knowledge whether the two were authorized by Beijing to negotiate with Taiwan on possible cross-strait charter flights during the forthcoming Chinese New Year holiday and no meeting with the two has been scheduled, " MAC Vice Chairman Chiu said.

With Beijing's consent, Taiwan carriers operated special charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei/Kaohsiung via Hong Kong/Macau during the 2003 Chinese New Year period. The services were not offered during the 2004 Chinese New Year holiday because Beijing insisted that mainland carriers be allowed to also provide the same flight services while declining to negotiate the necessary technical details with Taiwan.

The Taiwan government said that as the opening of two-way, non-stop cross-strait charter flight services involves the exercise of public authority, prior negotiations are necessary.

(CNA)

Non-stop cross-strait flights proposed; Taipei seeks charter runs with mainland for Lunar New Year
Jacky Hsu
13 November 2004
South China Morning Post

Taiwan yesterday unveiled a preliminary draft plan to launch reciprocal, non-stop charter flights between the island and the mainland.

Under the draft, the two sides would run charter passenger and cargo flights during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, to be followed by regular charter services if things went smoothly.

"As soon as the mainland side expresses its desire for such flights, we will appoint the Taipei Airlines Association to help in bilateral talks so that such a service can be launched as soon as possible," said Mainland Affairs Council vice-chairman Chiu Tai-san.

He said Taiwan was willing to adopt the 2002 Hong Kong model in making such flights possible.

In the 2002 talks between Taiwan and Hong Kong on the renewal of their air links, the two sides agreed to direct flights based on three principles - shelving political differences, respecting practical requirements and conducting private sector negotiations.

Mr Chiu said the council had invited relevant government departments and private business groups in Taiwan to discuss the issue.

He said national security should not be of concern if the two sides used the existing flight routes open for Hong Kong. He said authorities would not worry about a surprise attack from the mainland as there were adequate facilities for the island to detect and determine whether an aircraft was hostile.

Mr Chiu called on Beijing to temporarily set aside political differences to allow such flights. He said Taipei's offer demonstrated the island's goodwill to improve ties.

"I am confident that the two sides will finally be able to start such services," he said, adding that Beijing once proposed that the two sides discuss the issue based on the 2002 Hong Kong model.

Taiwan and the mainland launched their only charter flight service last year to transport mainland-based Taiwanese businessmen in Shanghai back to the island for the Lunar New Year holiday.

But Beijing refused to permit such a service this year on the grounds that such flights should be reciprocal, without a stop in either Hong Kong or Macau.

China says mainland, Taiwan airlines could discuss new year charter flights
2 January 2005

BEIJING (AFX) - Airlines from mainland China and Taiwan could sort out arrangements for special charter flights to serve passsengers over the Chinese lunar New Year holiday, an official from the Taiwan Affairs Office was quoted as saying.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted an unidentified spokesman as saying that such talks could be held to reach a consensus on technical arrangements.

'We believe that the airlines of the two sides could discuss the technical and business arrangements for charter flights over the Chinese New Year,' the spokesman said.

While Taiwan and China have no direct flights the two sides have permitted special indirect charter flights to accommodate Taiwanese who work on the mainland but wish to return to the island for the lunar New Year holiday.

The two sides inaugurated such flights in 2003 but a souring of relations prevented a similar agremeent in 2004.

Xinhua quoted the spokesman as saying that discussions involving semi-official agencies set up by both sides could not proceed because of reasons that are 'known to all'.

The spokesman added that the issue of flights between Taiwan and China is an internal matter for Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, reiterating Beijing's position that such flights would not be international service.

Jan 3, 2005
China open to talks of direct Taiwan air links

BEIJING - China said it was open to discussion with Taiwan about allowing direct flights between the two rivals during Chinese New Year - a possible concession by the mainland during the year's busiest travel season.

China 'will work hard to promote the launching of charter flights across the Taiwan Straits during the ... Lunar New Year, and welcomes Taiwan people to come for talks over the issue,' the Xinhua News Agency said, citing an unidentified spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Sunday's report also said he hoped that the charter flights 'can be operated by airlines on both sides of the Straits in direct routes,' an issue which has been a sticking point in previous discussions.

Direct Taiwan-China air links have been banned since the two sides split during civil war in 1949. While political relations are tense, trade between the two sides has boomed in recent years and Taiwanese tourists and investors flock to the mainland.

The issue is particularly significant in the days leading up to Chinese New Year, when many Taiwan residents want to travel to see relatives on the mainland, and vice versa. This year, the holiday falls on Feb 9.

While China has allowed holiday charter flights in previous years, travellers have to stop at a third point, usually Hong Kong, where they transfer to a foreign airline.

Last week, Mr Chiu Tai-san, vice-chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said the matter could be resolved if only Taiwanese airlines are involved in the flights.

China has in the past refused such talks unless Taiwanese leaders agree that the island is part of China and that the two must eventually unify. But it has said charter flights could be negotiated by airline representatives from both sides without government involvement.

The Beijing spokesman did not directly address either position but said he hoped Taiwanese leaders would 'create conditions for the chartered planes to take off'. -- AP

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

KMT Outlines 3 Principles for Taiwan-China Charter Flights

TAIPEI, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - The opposition Kuomintang reiterated its three principles Sunday for promoting the opening of direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday for Taiwan business people working in mainland China.

KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung claimed that the KMT will mainly play the role of communicator, not negotiator, in the proposed cross-strait charter flight services.

The KMT's three principles are that both mainland and Taiwan carriers should be allowed to operate cross-strait charter flights during the period, those flights should be non-stop and three mainland destinations - Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou - should be include in the package.

Chang said the KMT package can be carried out without prior cross-strait negotiations.

"With the consent of relevant government authorities, the proposed two-way, non-stop, cross-strait charter flights can kick-start," Chang claimed.

He urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to accept the KMT-proposed formula to benefit a large number of Taiwan businesspeople working on the mainland, commonly known as "taishang," intending to return to spend the lunar new year holiday.

If the KMT-initiated charter flights package can be implemented, Chang claimed, it can also help defuse cross-strait tension.

Chang said representatives from the KMT legislative caucus and six local carriers will travel to the mainland to discuss with mainland Chinese air carriers to pave the way for the proposed holiday charter flights.

With Beijing's consent, six Taiwan carriers operated special charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei/Kaohsiung via Hong Kong/Macau during the 2003 Chinese New Year holiday. The services were not offered the following year because Beijing insisted that mainland carriers also be allowed to provide the same flight services but refused to negotiate the necessary technical details with Taiwan.

Huang Teh-fu, KMT legislative whip, said mainland Chinese carriers can commission private organizations to apply with Taiwan authorities for permission to operate the proposed cross-strait charter flights just like what mainland news organizations have been doing in the past few years in applying for approval to post reporters in Taiwan.

"If the DPP administration agrees to this formula, bilateral negotiations are not necessary for the opening of special cross-strait charter flights during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday," Huang claimed.

Huang said he and his KMT colleagues will pay a visit to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) - Taiwan's top mainland policy planning agency - again on Monday to seek its support for the KMT package.

MAC Vice Chairman Liu Teh-hsun said Friday that the proposed cross-strait charter flights could be modeled after the 2003 formula.

Liu said that the MAC has repeatedly urged the mainland side to negotiate the holiday charter flight issue, but to no avail. With only a little more than one month before Chinese New Year Day, which falls on Feb. 9, Liu suggested using the 2003 model in which only Taiwan carriers operated the special charter flight service.

If "taishang" believe that more mainland cities should be included in the services, Liu siad the MAC is willing to consult with air carriers to expand the services to Guangzhou and Beijing.

Should mainland air carriers want to apply for operating similar flight services, Liu said, the two sides must consult to come to terms because such operations involve the exercise of public authority and complex technical details for safety reasons.

(CNA)

Beijing Agrees to Holiday Cross-Strait Charter Flights

TAIPEI, Jan 4 Asia Pulse - Mainland China has finally agreed to work toward the opening of direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait during the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday for Taiwan business people working in mainland China.

Beijing's official Xinhua news agency's online edition quoted the spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office as saying late Sunday that mainland authorities will do their utmost to open the special cross-strait charter flight services under the formula of "joint participation, multiple destinations, direct flights and two-way passenger transport services."

For various reasons, the spokesman said, cross-strait negotiations could not resume at the moment. Nevertheless, the spokesman suggested that air carriers from both sides be authorized to negotiate technical details to pave the way for the special cross-strait flight services during the lunar new year holiday.

"We believe our suggestion is pragmatic and feasible," the spokesman said, adding that Taiwan's elected representatives and airline executives are welcome to travel to the mainland to discuss the proposed charter flight services.

With Beijing's consent, six Taiwan carriers operated special charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei/Kaohsiung via Hong Kong/Macau during the 2003 Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

The services were not offered the following year because Beijing insisted that mainland carriers also be allowed to provide the same flight services but refused to negotiate the necessary technical details with Taiwan.

(CNA)

Chinese Airlines to Run New Year Charter Flights to Taiwan

TAIPEI, Jan 7 Asia Pulse - To be on par with their Taiwan counterparts, mainland Chinese carriers are in principle allowed to offer special lunar new year charter flight services for Taiwan businessmen wishing to return to Taiwan for the holiday period, a government spokesman said Thursday.

Chen Chi-mai, spokesman for the Executive Yuan, said that mainland-based aviation companies will be allowed to offer the flights as long as the two sides can reach a final agreement in this regard.

Chen added, however, that Taiwan has yet to receive any formal applications by mainland airlines seeking to offer the special flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, nor has the government been informed of the situation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Chen's remarks came after local media reported that Xiamen Airlines has gained approval from Hong Kong to operate Xiamen-Taipei and Xiamen-Kaohsiung charter flights for homebound and returning Taiwan businessmen and their dependents in the new year holiday season early next month.

According to the Cabinet spokesman, Taiwan and the mainland have forged much common ground on the model for "non stop, round trip" flights by carriers on both sides."

The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has commissioned the Taipei Airlines Association to hold technical talks with the mainland side to clear the way for the service, he noted.

The special flights were launched for the first time in 2003 using only Taiwan carriers, but the service failed to proceed in 2004 due to the mainland's insistence on mainland carriers being allowed to also offer flights and its refusal to hold technical talks on the issue as a result of cross-strait tension.

There have been no direct trade, transport and postal links between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since 1949, when the now-opposition Kuomintang lost a civil war to communist forces and fled to Taiwan.

To compensate for the absence of the links, the Kinmen and Matsu islands held by Taiwan initiated direct trade and transport services with the Xiamen and Mamei ports in mainland China's Fujian Province on a trial basis starting from Jan. 1, 2001 -- commonly known as the "three mini links."

(CNA)

Business Times - 07 Jan 2005

Taiwan may allow New Year flights from China

A successful deal will mark the 1st direct flight to Taipei since 1949

(TAIPEI) Taiwan said it may consider allowing a commercial airline from China to land on the island for the first time in more than half a century if an agreement on resuming Lunar New Year charter flights is reached.

'We are open to any possibility,' Chiu Tai-san, vice chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said in Taipei.

He was responding to a Xinhua News Agency report in China that Xiamen Airlines Co wants to operate a direct charter flight to Taipei and Kaohsiung to carry Taiwanese businessmen and their families home for the holidays next month. The report cited Xiamen Air General Manager Wu Rongnan.

Xiamen is located directly across the Taiwan Strait from the island.

'If the two sides reach agreement, it will be the first time a mainland Chinese aircraft flies to Taiwan and the first direct, nonstop flight between the two sides,' Mr Chiu said. 'Whether this develops into regular service across the Strait is still too early to say. Let's complete the first step before elaborating.'

Mr Chiu declined to describe the progress of talks between aviation officials from China and Taiwan on resumption of the Lunar New Year flights. Xiamen Airlines will fly to Taipei and the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung, Xinhua said.

The largely symbolic, first charter flights between Taiwan and China in 2003 involved only Taiwan commercial carriers and required them to stop over in Hong Kong or Macau briefly, though passengers weren't required to change planes.

Talks on resuming the flights last year broke down amid a dispute about whether they should be called as domestic or international. Negotiations were also caught in rhetoric surrounding the March presidential election in Taiwan. Incumbent Chen Shui-bian, who won a second term, was vilified by the Chinese media for his pro-independence views.

Taiwan businessmen, who have more than US$100 billion invested in China, would benefit from regularly scheduled direct flights that would shave the five-hour trip through third countries to about 90 minutes and pare cargo costs.

There have been no regularly scheduled flights between Taiwan and China since 1949, when the Nationalists fled to the island after losing a civil war with the Communists on the mainland. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sunday January 9, 12:56 PM
Opposition Taiwanese lawmakers visit China to discuss charter flights

(AP) An opposition delegation departed for Beijing on Sunday to discuss allowing direct charter flights between China and Taiwan during next month's Chinese New Year holiday.

Direct Taiwan-China air links have been banned since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949. Political relations remain tense, but trade between the two sides has boomed in recent years and Taiwanese tourists and investors flock to the mainland.

John Chang, head of the delegation of opposition Nationalist Party lawmakers and airline representatives, said the group will meet with Chinese civil aeronautics officials on Monday to discuss direct charter flights during the New Year holiday that begins Feb. 8.

Chang said the Taiwan government has not officially authorized the opposition's visit, but would be pressured to recognize the results if an agreement is reached.

"They move passively and we have to give them pressure," Chang told reporters.

Taiwan complains that its airlines must fly through a third port, usually Hong Kong, before transferring to a foreign carrier to fly on to China.

Chiu Tai-san, a Taiwanese official in charge of relations with China, on Saturday expressed optimism that the flights were possible but avoided direct comment on the opposition talks.

"Both sides have displayed high degree of goodwill and sincerity regarding the New Year charter flights," said Chiu, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. "Things are moving toward a positive direction."

In 2003, six Taiwanese air carriers flew charter flights to Shanghai and picked up hundreds of Taiwanese returning home for the Chinese New Year. But Taiwan then barred Chinese air carriers to Taiwan, citing security concerns.

Taiwan recently said Chinese carriers could provide direct charter flights, but still wants the flights to pass through Hong Kong airspace without touching down.

Chiu said Taiwan would ensure that Chinese planes follow air routes that would not pose security threats to the island, which faces the mainland across the Taiwan Strait.

China has remained Taiwan's biggest security threat. The Taiwanese military has warned that Chinese civilian planes may conduct secret reconnaissance sorties or cover up fighter jets to help them evade radar detections.

Beijing has said it won't talk to Taiwan's government unless the island recognizes it is part of China and that both sides must eventually unify. Taipei refuses to accept those conditions.

Cross-strait flights deal said to be close to liftoff
Jacky Hsu in Taipei
9 January 2005
South China Morning Post

Taipei and Beijing appear close to reaching an agreement to allow Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland to take direct flights home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Taiwanese media reported yesterday that Taipei Airlines Association chairman Michael Lo Ta-hsin had already reached agreement with Pu Zhaozhou , director of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs under the General Administration for Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

The agreement was reached in Macau on Friday, according to the reports, but had not yet been accepted by the CAAC or the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top body on mainland policy.

A group of opposition Taiwanese legislators will leave for Beijing today to meet senior mainland officials to lobby for the flights.

The four-member delegation is led by Tseng Yung-chuan from the Kuomintang and John Chang Hsiao-yen, who helped broker cross-strait charter flights in 2003.

They will meet officials from the aviation administration and Chen Yunlin , the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, tomorrow.

Taiwanese media yesterday speculated that Mr Chen may announce the charter flight agreement after his meeting with the opposition legislators.

Luo Chaogeng , general manager of China Eastern Airlines, told China News Service that his company was "fully prepared" for flights to Taiwan.

Mainland Affairs Council vice-chairman Chiu Tai-san was tight-lipped yesterday about whether the two sides had reached an initial agreement.

However, he said the matter was moving in a "positive direction".

Mr Chiu said if the special charter flights were successful over the Lunar New Year holiday, Taiwan could look at cargo charter flights in future. He said the charter passenger flights may also operate at other times of year.

The Mainland Affairs Council was considering additional routes, including having Hong Kong as the mid-point for flights between Taiwan and the mainland.

Under the current plan for flights over the Lunar New Year, aircraft are allowed into Hong Kong's flight zone without stopping. The two sides launched the services in early 2003, but they were stopped last year because of a chill in relations.

Jan 10, 2005
Taipei team in Beijing for talks on air links

TAIPEI - A GROUP of Taiwan opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers flew to Beijing yesterday to discuss direct air links for next month's Chinese New Year holidays after China said it was willing to talk.

The visit came amid growing signs of 'positive developments' that there is a chance to reach an accord this time.

KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung said the group will meet Chinese civil aviation and Taiwan affairs officials today to discuss direct charter flights during the holiday, which begins on Feb 9.

Group member John Chang said the Taiwan government has not officially authorised the opposition's visit, but would be pressured to recognise the results if an agreement is reached.

On Saturday, Mr Chiu Tai-san, deputy chairman of Taiwan's Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), expressed optimism that the flights were possible but avoided direct comment on the opposition talks.

He said the MAC had not received any information from Mr Lo Ta-hsing, chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association, who was commissioned by the MAC to hold technical talks with mainland officials in Macau on Friday.

MAC chairman Joseph Wu also declined to confirm media reports about the two sides having reached agreement at the Macau meeting on a model for 'non-stop, round-trip, multi-destination flights by carriers on both sides'. But he expressed optimism to the China Post that direct flights were possible.

He mentioned Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - all cities with large populations of Taiwanese.

Direct air and sea links between Taiwan and the mainland have been cut off since their split in 1949.

Six Taiwanese carriers were allowed to fly between Taiwan and Shanghai in 2003, with stops in Hong Kong or Macau, to take Taiwanese working on the mainland home for the CNY holidays.

But the charter flights were called off last year as Taipei barred mainland air carriers from flying to the island. \-- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Posted: 10 January 2005 1806 hrs

China okays direct charter flights with Taiwan
By Young Ming, Channel NewsAsia's Taiwan Bureau Chief

TAIPEI: China has agreed to the first direct charter flights to and from Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holidays in February.

If all goes well, it will be the first such links between the two sides since 1949.

With China's go-ahead to allow direct charter flights, the ball is now in Taiwan's court.

Approval is needed from President Chen Shui-bian before the flights can commence on February 9.

The proposed charter flights are between two cities in Taiwan - Taipei and Kaohsiung - and the mainland Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Unlike the first flights arranged two years ago, this time they do not need to make an extra stopover at Macau or Hong Kong.

If so, the flights will be the first direct ones between arch rivals, Taiwan and mainland China in more than 50 years.

Moreover Chinese airlines will be allowed to take part in this operation.

In other words, for the first time in more than half a century, a mainland Chinese aircraft will land in Taiwan.

The planes are expected to fly at full capacity because despite their diplomatic freeze, cross-strait business ties have blossomed in recent years.

With over one million Taiwanese businessmen and their families in China, many will want to return to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year.

The meeting for the proposed charter flights was brokered by Taiwan's opposition legislators as China has refused to talk directly with the island's government which it considers a breakaway province.

John Chang Hsiao Yen, Taiwan legislator from Kuomintang party, said: "China still thinks the cross-strait relationship is severe. So it's impossible for the governments of both sides to sit down and talk. That's why we are an important go-between for things to work. "

But it's believed Beijing will eventually need to talk with the government about technical issues.

The agreement has raised hopes that the cross-strait stalemate between China and Taiwan is loosening up.

The charter flights have been described as "the first sparrow in spring", as the Chinese believe that when you see a sparrow, spring time is around the corner. - CNA

China agrees to direct charter flights with Taiwan

BEIJING, Jan 10 (Reuters) - China agreed on Monday to direct two-way charter flights with arch-rival Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday in February, a move that would mark the first such links in more than 50 years, Taiwan opposition legislators said.

The move puts the ball in the court of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and his ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose approval will be necessary for flights to take place for the start of the Chinese new year festival on Feb. 9.

The charters would be the first direct commercial flights across the Taiwan Strait -- except for hijackings -- since 1949 when Nationalist troops fled to the island after losing the Chinese civil war on the mainland to the Communists.

Beijing was willing for the flights to proceed without transit stops in Hong Kong or Macau and for Chinese airlines to be involved, the legislators said after a meeting in Beijing with Chen Yunlin, minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

"If the Taiwan authorities really care about the interests of Taiwan compatriots, live up to their promise, are flexible and pragmatic, these Lunar New Year charter flights absolutely can be realised," minister Chen told the delegation, according to a statement from the Taiwan Affairs Office.

During Chinese new year in 2003, charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei were commissioned to Taiwan airlines. However, Taipei would not allow planes to fly directly between Taiwan and China, requiring them to make token stops in Hong Kong or Macau, lengthening a one-hour flight to about four hours.

"We ask the DPP government to live up to promises it made in the past regarding Lunar New Year charter flights," said John Chang, a legislator with Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party and the sole surviving grandson of late Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.

"We hope tension between the two sides of the Strait can ease somewhat, but today minister Chen made a very important point. He thinks the cross-Strait situation is serious," said Chang, who is leading the Nationalist delegation.

"If you want government envoys from the two sides to hold talks, that is not feasible."

FLIGHTS CAN BE REALISED

China refuses to talk directly with the government of Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province being led down a path towards formal independence by President Chen.

However, business and tourism ties have blossomed despite the diplomatic freeze and about 1 million Taiwan businessmen and their families live and work in China.

Last year, China did not allow a repeat of the 2003 charter flights, fearing the move could help Chen to win re-election. Chen won the 2004 presidential election anyway.

On Monday, China agreed to expand the flights to five mainland cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Shenzhen. Taipei decides which Taiwan cities are involved.

It also said stopovers in Hong Kong or Macau were no longer necessary and wanted the planes to take on passengers in Taiwan and the mainland. In 2003, Taiwan airlines had to fly empty to Shanghai to pick up passengers.

AIRLINE IMPACT

Airline executives said Taiwan airlines allowed to participate would be China Airlines Ltd. , EVA Airways Corp. , Trans Asia Airways , Far East Air Transport Corp. , Mandarin Airlines and UNI Airways Corp.

From the mainland, airline executives have listed Air China Ltd. , China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. , Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern Air as possibly taking part.

The significance of the flights would largely be symbolic, said Peter Hilton, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston in Hong Kong.

"In a profitability sense, Chinese New Year would be modest," he said. "Cross-straits flights is an issue that is going to come. But the political situation is not ripe."

The Taiwan legislators will be holding talks with aviation officials on Monday afternoon to sort out details. Chang said he and his delegation would brief Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which formulates policy toward China, on the results of the talks after they returned to Taiwan later on Monday.

The talks would be a test of the Taiwan leader's sincerity to ease tension across the Taiwan Strait, Beijing's China Daily newspaper said on Monday.

The Nationalists oppose independence for the island. Beijing has threatened war if Taiwan formally declares statehood.

Taiwan's Mac Hopes Beijing Will Start Charter Flights Based on Model

TAIPEI, Jan 11 Asia Pulse - The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Monday that it hopes mainland China will honor its words and use talks between Taiwan and Hong Kong on air transport in 2002 as a model for launching cross-Taiwan Strait charter flights during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The MAC made the remarks in a press release after a Taiwan delegation led by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) officials met with Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing Monday to discuss flight services to facilitate the return of Taiwan people on the mainland during the holiday.

According to the KMT delegation after the meeting, Chen accepted the principles of "joint participation in the two-way, multiple-destination flights with no stopovers in third countries or regions."

Chen reportedly agreed that Taiwanese with travel documents to the mainland, and not confined to Taiwan businessmen operating on the mainland only, will be able to board the charter flights.

He also said Taipei Airlines Association representatives and air carriers can travel to the mainland as soon as possible to discuss related technical details with the mainland side.

The MAC said in the press release that it is gratified that Beijing responded positively to Taiwan's suggestion for the charter flights, and that the MAC also noted that a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Council said Oct. 27 that air transport negotiations between Taiwan and Hong Kong in 2002 can serve as a model for talks.

The air transport talks were completed successfully because they were conducted by the private sector, with government officials acting as advisers.

The MAC expressed hope that the mainland will honor its words and seize the opportunity to embark on consultations in a way acceptable to both sides.

The MAC said in the press release that the policy of promoting the charter flights during the Chinese New Year period has been the long-standing policy of the government and that the government has long expressed that both sides could make appropriate arrangements concerning the "joint participation of two-way, non-stop flights" principles demanded by Beijing.

The government stated last November that Taiwan is willing to base negotiations on Taiwan-Hong Kong air transport negotiations that took place in 2002, the MAC said.

The MAC also commissioned the Taipei Airlines Association to go to Macau earlier this month to help discuss the matter after Beijing responded positively to Taiwan's appeal.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it has already completed the planning on technical details for the charter flight services.

(CNA)

Airline Industry Information
January 12, 2005
Taiwan concerned over implications of direct flights

China's proposal for one-off, direct flights between China and Taiwan during the Lunar New Year has raised some concerns in Taiwan.

The proposal is seen as a move to ease tension between the two sides. The direct flights between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen in China and Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung in Taiwan would end a ban on direct flights that has been in place for decades. Since the split between mainland China and Taiwan in 1949 the island has banned direct flights, forcing services between China and Taiwan to go mainly via Hong Kong or Macau.

The proposal from China would have to be approved by the administration of Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian. The Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council welcomed negotiations in a manner acceptable to both sides but did not refer directly to the proposal.

According to The Associated Press, there are worries in Taiwan that direct flights may jeopardise the island's security, though many businesses and tourists in Taiwan would like to end the ban. The Taiwanese government remains concerned that allowing direct flights could mean that China would use airline flights for military purposes.

Taichung Hopes to be Included in Lunar New Year Charter Flights

TAIPEI, Jan 14 Asia Pulse - Taichung Mayor Jason Hu and Taichung Magistrate Huang Chung-sheng jointly urged the central government Thursday to include Chingchuankang (CCK) Airport in the Lunar New Year charter flight services between Taiwan and mainland China.

They issued the call after reports that the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) might reject a proposal to include the central Taiwan airport in the special program designed to transport mainland-based Taiwan businessmen wishing to spend the Chinese New Year holiday early next month at home.

Claiming that national security issues cited by the MAC as a reason for excluding CCK Airport from the program can be overcome "technically, " Hu called on the central government to rethink its decision.

Taichung is located close to Xiamen in Fujian Province, where there is a large number of Taiwan businessmen from Taichung, Hu claimed, adding that the interests of citizens from central Taiwan must be heeded.

Passenger and cargo air transport services between the two sides, Huang said, are very important for both sides amid frequent and close trade and economic relations across the Taiwan Strait.

Air travel between Taichung and Xiamen would be time and cost effective for the many businessmen in Xiamen who come from central Taiwan regions, Huang said.

Should the central government include CCK Airport in the charter flight services, it would help boost the airport's aim of becoming an international airport, Huang said.

Both Hu and Huang claimed that the national security concerns highlighted by the MAC can be resolved by imposing a quota mechanism, setting a limit on the number of mainland carriers coming to Taichung.

Taiwan and the mainland have in principle agreed that carriers from both sides will take part in the charter flight services under the principle of "non-stop, round-trip, multi-destinations, " but concrete details have yet to be worked out.

Chinese New Year charter flights for Taiwan businessmen took off for the first time in 2003, involving Taiwan carriers only. The special service failed to take place in 2004 due to the mainland's demand that mainland carriers be allowed to take part and its refusal to discuss the issue with the Taiwan authorities.

Direct transport, trade and postal links between Taiwan and mainland China have been absent due to long-standing political feuding since 1949, when the two sides split after a civil war.

(CNA)

Jan 15, 2005
Taiwan, China agree on direct flights

MACAU - Taiwan and China have reached agreement on temporarily lifting the island's five-decade ban on direct flights between the two rivals during next month's Lunar New Year holiday.

Chinese negotiator Pu Zhaozhou said the charter flights will take place from Jan 29 to Feb 29.

He said the agreement allows a total 48 round-trip charter flights to carry Taiwanese working in China home and back during the Chinese New Year holiday next month.

The flights from the Chinese mainland will originate from the cities of Bejing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

China bound flights from Taiwan will depart from Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The Charter flights would carry hundreds of Taiwanese who work or study in China back home for the weeklong New Year holiday, which begins Feb 8.

The deal came less than 2 hours after the 2 sides met in the chinese territory of Macau.

It marks the biggest breakthrough between Taiwan and China in years.

And could produce a thaw in tensions in one of Asia's most dangerous flashpoints.

Taiwanese and Chinese airlines haven't flown direct flights since a civil war split the two sides in 1949. -- AP

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Taiwan, China clinch deal on landmark direct flights

MACAU, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Taiwan and China reached a landmark deal on Saturday to allow non-stop charter flights over the Chinese New Year holidays, a move which could ease tensions and improve ties between the bitter political rivals.

The one-off deal will allow the first direct flights between the foes since 1949, and could mark a step towards ending a decades-old ban on direct air links.

"In a very short time, in a cordial atmosphere, we have come to an agreement," Pu Zhaozhou, executive director of China's Civil Aviation Association, told a joint news conference after talks in the southern Chinese territory of Macau.

However, while the flights will be non-stop, they will still have to go through Hong Kong or Macau airspace.

"The flights have to go through Hong Kong but they don't have to land," said Mike Lo, chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association.

Lo said the flights would be for Taiwan businessmen and their families in China.

Forty-eight flights will be allowed under the agreement, beginning on Jan. 29 and ending on Feb. 20, Pu said. He did not specify whether the first would take off from China or Taiwan.

Taiwan has banned direct air and shipping links with the mainland since the Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war to the communists in 1949 and fled to the island.

Travellers between Taiwan and the mainland must now fly via a third destination, usually Hong Kong or Macau on China's southern coast, adding four hours to what should be an hour-long flight.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has threatened to invade the self-governing, democratic island of 23 million people if it formally declares statehood.

COOLING TENSIONS?

Despite often highly charged political tensions, trade and investment across the narrow Taiwan Strait has boomed since the late 1980s, with about one million Taiwanese now living and working in China.

Taiwan businesspeople, who have poured up to $100 billion into China, have long clamoured for direct flights. Millions of Chinese rush home for family reunions at the start of the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 9 this year.

"This is a specific arrangement for New Year charter flights, but it is also a symbol of showing good will from both sides," said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a prominent private thinktank in Taipei.

"It is a win-win situation for both sides as China very much wants to win the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese and appear to the general public that it is doing whatever it can to resolve differences or disputes peacefully," Yang said.

Taiwan, under pressure from the United States to seek reconciliation with China, has been eager for a resumption of quasi-official dialogue, which has been frozen since 1999.

During the 2003 Lunar New Year holidays, charter flights between Shanghai and Taipei were commissioned to Taiwan airlines only and they had to fly empty to Shanghai to pick up passengers.

At the time, Taipei did not allow planes to fly directly between Taiwan and China, requiring them to make stops at an intermediate destination.

But some said the move, while positive, was just symbolic and would not necessarily lead to a more comprehensive improvement in ties.

"It can help to reduce tension to create a friendly atmosphere, but it is too premature to conclude that the resumption of talks can be realised," said George Tsai, an international relations fellow at National Chengchi University.

"I don't think Taiwan will go any further at this moment unless we can get some political benefit out of it."

China refused to allow similar flights last year, fearing it could help win re-election for Taiwan's pro-independence president, Chen Shui-bian.

The new agreement will allow flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on the mainland and Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, with each side allowed to select six airlines for the routes.

From the mainland, airline executives have listed Air China Ltd. , China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. , Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern Air as possible candidates.

Taiwan airlines could include China Airlines Ltd. , EVA Airways Corp. , Trans Asia Airways , Far East Air Transport Corp. , Mandarin Airlines and UNI Airways Corp. (Additional reporting by Richard Dobson in Taipei)

Taiwan-China Air Deal Raises Hopes; Fincl Impact Unclear
By Perris Lee Choon Siong
17 January 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--A landmark agreement allowing Chinese and Taiwanese airlines to fly directly between the island and the mainland could pay long-term dividends, but an immediate financial benefit to the participating airlines is less certain.

Taiwan and China Saturday closed a deal to allow the first scheduled, nonstop flights between the two rivals in over half a century. The arrangement is intended to bring Taiwanese working in China home and back between Jan. 29 and Feb. 20, during the Lunar New Year, the most celebrated festival in Taiwan.

The unprecedented service is unlikely to translate into significant profits for the participating airlines, especially because the special charter flights are being added at the last minute, when many Taiwanese have already made flight arrangements.

Still, the agreement boosted the shares of carriers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and elicited hope from airline executives about the longer-term benefits, even though most analysts are skeptical that a broader deal is just around the corner.

"If everything goes beautifully smooth, then we're one big step closer to, say, regular charter flights, or eventual direct flights," said Nieh Kuo-wei, spokesman for EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW).

Shares of EVA, Taiwan's second largest airline, Monday rose 1.3% to NT$16 apiece - their highest closing level in nearly nine months - outperforming the mainboard index's 0.9% gain.

Shares in its bigger rival, China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW), ended up 0.5% at NT$18.5.

Taiwanese airlines will be responsible for 24 of the 48 special round-trip flights. The other four participating are UNI Airways Corp., TransAsia Airways, Mandarin Airlines and Far Eastern Air Transport Corp. (5605.OT)

On the mainland, the Chinese government will Tuesday designate which six airlines will provide the other 24 flights. Meanwhile, Chinese airlines listed in Hong Kong closed mostly higher Monday.

China Southern Airlines Co. (ZNH) rose 1.8% to HK$2.775, China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA) ended flat at HK$1.59, and Air China Ltd. (0753.HK) rose 0.88% to HK$2.875.

Taiwan has banned direct flights with China since the two split amid civil war in 1949. Since then, a long-standing threat by China to take over the island by force, if necessary, has made the flight issue a serious security concern for Taiwan. People are forced to travel between China and Taiwan by a third location, usually Hong Kong.

Limited charter flights were allowed in 2003, but only Taiwanese airlines were allowed to participate, and they had to touch down in Hong Kong or Macau. This time, the planes need to fly through Hong Kong's airspace, but don't have to land there.

There are roughly 600,000 Taiwanese currently residing in China, mainly for work, according to Andrew C.R. Yeh, vice president of the Taiwan Businessmen Association in Dongguan, Guangdong Province.

Last year, around 150,000 Taiwanese in China returned to Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday, he reckons.

But Saturday's deal came as a surprise to many Taiwanese working in China, around 80% of whom have already booked flights back to Taiwan for the holiday, according to Gary Zhang, an aviation analyst at Sun Hung Kai Research Ltd.

Indeed, seats on China Airlines' flights from Hong Kong to Taiwan during the days before the Chinese New Year holiday are already 90% booked, according to Johnson Sun, assistant vice president at China Airlines' corporate communications division.

Taiwanese airlines are thus offering lower prices on the nonstop China-Taiwan flights.

China Airlines will sell tickets at 20% below market prices, Sun said.

The carrier has decided to work together with its 90%-owned unit Mandarin Airlines, a regional carrier, to allow passengers buying round-trip tickets to take either carrier when they return to Taiwan for holiday or go back to China for work.

EVA's Nieh wouldn't say whether EVA will work with its regional sister firm UNI Airways Corp., but said tickets for the charter flights will definitely be cheaper than flights connecting through Hong Kong.

Neither China Airlines nor EVA would project if the direct charter services will generate much profits, although the EVA spokesman said the carrier believes it will sell more tickets than it did in 2003, when it broke even on the special flights.

Taiwanese airlines are still waiting for the transport ministry to finalize the flight schedule before they can start selling tickets, the executives said.

Meanwhile, if regular direct flights were ever to become a reality, some Hong Kong carriers would stand to lose.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd., known as Dragonair, regularly ferry Taiwanese businessmen to and from the mainland via Hong Kong.

"If cross strait (flights) become a fully liberalized situation, which we don't think is practical enough in near term, then the effect becomes significant," said Peter Hilton, an aviation analyst at CSFB. "Just one month worth of flights...isn't a big deal, that's the reason why it's not having a dramatic effect."

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's biggest airline, ended Monday 0.35% higher at HK$14.3. China National Aviation Co. (1110.HK), which holds a 43% stake in Dragonair, was flat at HK$1.70. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 0.94% to 13621.65.

-By Perris Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 8862-2502-2557; perris.lee@dowjones.com

(Victoria Ruan in Beijing and Ruby Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this article) [ 17-01-05 1132GMT ]

Tuesday January 18, 6:45 PM
China approves six airlines for Taiwan charter flights

AP - China said Tuesday it has selected six domestic airlines for special charter flights to Taiwan during the coming Lunar New Year holiday.

Negotiators agreed on Saturday to allow 48 round-trip charter flights carrying Taiwanese working in China back home during the holiday that starts on Feb. 9.

Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines have received government approval for direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the communists won a civil war on the mainland. Taiwan has banned direct flights since the split because of security concerns.

In addition to the Chinese carriers, six from Taiwan will make the flights between Jan. 29 and Feb. 20 between the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Taiwan's two biggest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The planes are to travel via the airspace of Hong Kong instead of flying directly across the 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile-wide) Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan, China seal deal on air links

Cover Story (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3071845#post3071845)

Someone can have a thread of "flying the world: Beijing-Taipei", that will be first ever.

Glad to see this is happening.

Someone can have a thread of "flying the world: Beijing-Taipei", that will be first ever.

Glad to see this is happening.
Hahaha...you wants to take that honour? ;)

Wednesday January 19, 7:38 PM
CAL, Xiamen Airlines to run 1st cross-strait Lunar New Year flights

(Kyodo) _ Taiwan's China Airlines and China's Xiamen Airlines will start this year's direct charter flights during the Lunar New Year holiday that begins Feb. 9, local media reported Wednesday.

The service will kick off with a China Airlines Boeing 747 plane taking off Jan. 29 from Taipei at 4:05 a.m. and arriving in Beijing at 8 a.m. to pick up mainland-based Taiwanese businessmen and their family members returning home for the holidays, the United Evening News said.

Meanwhile, a Xiamen Airlines Boeing 757 aircraft will depart from Guangzhou at 8 a.m. the same day and touch down in Taipei at 9:45 a.m., becoming the first Chinese civilian flight to land in Taiwan, except for several hijackings, in over five decades.

Taiwan and China reached a landmark deal in Macao on Saturday to allow nonstop charter flights from Jan. 29 to Feb. 20.

The flights from the mainland will originate from the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, while the China-bound flights from Taiwan will depart from Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Under the agreement, a total of 48 flights will be operated by six Taiwanese carriers and six Chinese carriers. The five other Taiwan carriers are Eva Airways, Far Eastern Air Transport, Uni Air, TransAsia Airways and Mandarin Airlines. The five other Chinese carriers are Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

Hahaha...you wants to take that honour? ;)

I wish bulga could take that honor, I am not a Taiwan businessman and their family, wait a moment, I do have a few relatives in Taiwan, my dad's uncles and aunts. :)

I wish bulga could take that honor, I am not a Taiwan businessman and their family, wait a moment, I do have a few relatives in Taiwan, my dad's uncles and aunts. :)
Well..its not that difficult actually. Just go to a certain "Hong Kong aviation forum" and snatch the photos from there! :D

Actually, Taiwanese aviation forums might be a better choice, since the flights target Taiwanese businessmen living in China, not Hong Kongers.

Yesterday I watched the news, it said Taiwan students in mainland are not allowed to take the taiwan airline, but they can take mainland airlines, is that true?

China Eastern signs ground services deal with Taiwan's China Airlines - report
19 January 2005

BEIJING (AFX) - China Eastern Airlines and Taiwan's China Airlines yesterday agreed to provide ground services for each other during an upcoming exchange of charter flights between the mainland and Taiwan during the lunar new year, China Daily reported.

Taiwan and Beijing decided over the weekend that six Taiwan and six mainland airlines will be permitted to offer 48 round trips between the island and the mainland during the holiday in early February.

Under the deal signed by the two carriers, China Airlines' non-stop charter flight landing at Pudong Airport on Feb 5 will be serviced by China Eastern Airlines, the report said.

The Taiwan carrier will make four flights to the mainland, with two to Beijing, one to Shanghai and another to Guangzhou.

The paper said China Airlines will in turn provide ground services for charter flights operated by China Eastern, which will land at Taoyuan Airport in Taipei.

From Jan 29, China Eastern will fly six legs, all bound for Taoyuan Airport in Taipei, using 322-seat Airbus A340-600 aircraft.

China Daily said China Eastern carried half a million Taiwan passengers from Shanghai to Hong Kong last year, where they transferred planes.

The airline expects its new non-stop charter flights to be in strong demand, the paper said. It reported that the Shanghai carrier has opened more than 40 ticket sales outlets citywide. A return ticket between Shanghai and Taipei is priced at 3,000 to 3,700 yuan and a one-way costs 1,500 to 1,800 yuan.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China on Tuesday decided to designate Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines to fly cross-Straits charter flights during the coming holidays, the report said.

春節包機搶客 兩岸大打價格戰

首航最便宜 華航台北飛北京只要1萬3600元 台北上海1萬2800元 愈近春節愈貴

Cover Story (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3085049#post3085049)

春節包機搶客 兩岸大打價格戰

首航最便宜 華航台北飛北京只要1萬3600元 台北上海1萬2800元 愈近春節愈貴

Cover Story (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3085049#post3085049)
台币和人民币怎么兑换

1.00 CNY/China Yuan Renminbi = 3.84090 TWD/Taiwan New Dollars

Three Carriers Apply for New Year Cross-Strait Charter Flights

TAIPEI, Jan 21 Asia Pulse - Three airlines have applied to offer direct cross-strait charter flights for mainland-based Taiwan businesspeople during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) reported Thursday.

Mainland China's Shanghai Airlines (SSX:600591) and Taiwan's two leading carriers, China Airlines (TAIEX:2610) and EVA Airways (TAIEX:2618), are the first three airlines to file applications with the CAA to offer special charter services for the Jan. 29-Feb. 20 period, CAA officials said.

Negotiators from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait reached an agreement Dec. 8 in Macau to allow a total of six carriers from either side to offer flight services to accommodate returning Taiwan business people for the Feb. 9 Chinese New Year holiday on the "non-stop, round-trip, multi-destinations" model.

The carriers will be permitted to offer a total of 24 roundtrip flights between Taipei or Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou in mainland China via the Hong Kong flight information zone.

Shanghai Airlines has applied through Taipei-based EVA Airways to operate four round-trip charter flights between Jan. 29 and Feb. 17 -- with three on the Shanghai-Taipei route and one on the Shanghai-Kaohsiung route, the CAA officials said.

China Airlines has also applied to operate four round-trip charter flights between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 -- two on the Taipei-Beijing route, and one each on the Taipei-Shanghai and the Taipei-Guangzhou routes.

EVA Airways has applied to offer two round-trip charter flights connecting Taipei and Beijing and two connecting Taipei and Shanghai, between Jan. 29 and Feb. 7.

It was reported that the mainland's Air China (SEHK:0753), China Southern Airlines (SEHK:1055), China Eastern Airlines (SSX:600115), Hainan Airlines (SSX:600221) and Xiamen Airlines will also apply to offer flight services.

The ground-breaking agreement will see mainland carriers land on Taiwan soil for the first time in more than 50 years since the two sides of the Taiwan Strait split in 1949 after a civil war.

The cross-strait Chinese New Year charter flights took off for the first time in 2003, involving only six Taiwan air carriers. However, the service was not continued the next year due to Beijing's insistence that mainland carriers be allowed to take part in the program.

(CNA)

CO is planning for take off from New York to Peking by this year and now waiting for the both government final to approve

It would be the third US Based air carrier flying into mainland China market following by UA and NW

Another 2 major America Airlines, AA nd DL are still in highly interest for looking into these big cake

全美國第六大航空業者—— 大陸航空公司（Continental　Air-lines）18日說，如果獲得美國與中國兩國政府批准，該公司可望於今年開通從紐華克飛往北京的航線，成為繼聯合航空（United　Airlines）與西北航空（Northwest　Airlines）之後又一家飛大陸的美國航空公司。


　 自從去年6月中旬公佈新的中美航空服務協議之後，多家航空業者就展開了激烈的競爭，或準備開闢新航線或增加服務。該協議允許在六年內把每週往返中國大陸與美國的客貨運航班從現有的54班增加近四倍。此外，雙方均可再安排五家航空公司進入對方的航空市場。該協定還允許雙方的航班可以飛往對方的任何一個城市，並取消了在代碼共用協議方面的所有限制。

　　業內人士表示，在中美航運方面尤其以客運方面的競爭更加激烈，因為美國每年只能新增一家經營兩地間航線的航空公司。而目前除了已經擁有航線的聯合航空與西北航空之外，大陸航空、美國航空(American Airlines)與達美航空(Delta AiLines)都參與角逐。

　　總部設在休士頓的大陸航空於2001年開闢了由香港直飛紐約的航班，目前每週六班次，為飛往大陸南方城市的旅客提供了方便。

　　該公司資深副總裁華克爾（John　Walker）表示，大陸航空目前尚未在大陸設辦事處，因為這需要政府批准，而且也沒有找好商業夥伴，但大陸的南方航空已經表示對天空團隊（SkyTeam）有興趣，如果南方航空加盟，大陸航空自然願意與其拓展關係。

Airlines fear sluggish sales for charter flights
Historic deal may be too late because most Taiwanese on the mainland who want to go home have already bought tickets
Jacky Hsu in Taipei
17 January 2005
South China Morning Post

Taiwanese airlines have expressed concerns about finding enough passengers to fill Lunar New Year charter flights to and from the mainland after a historic deal was struck in Macau on Saturday.

"I am worried about whether we can find enough passengers to fill the planes in such a short time," said Fan Chih-chiang, head of TransAsia Airways.

Under the landmark agreement, the two sides will each have six airlines flying a total of 48 flights between January 29 and February 20, to transport Taiwanese working on the mainland.

The Lunar New Year holiday starts on February 8.

The flights have a total capacity of 9,600 seats.

But since more than 80 per cent of Taiwanese businessmen planning to go home for the holidays have already bought their tickets, airlines officials said they would be happy to fill 60 per cent of the seats.

The flights will service Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on the mainland, and Taipei and Kaohsiung on Taiwan.

Chen Mei-wen, president of Far Eastern Air Transport, said Guangzhou's proximity to Hong Kong may result in fewer businessmen taking this route back to Taiwan.

In 2003, the two sides allowed six Taiwanese airlines to take businessmen working in Shanghai home for the holiday, with Hong Kong or Macau as a stopover.

However, the services were a failure in economic terms, as no more than 40 per cent of Taiwanese businessmen who returned home took the flights.

Costs were also heavy because the airlines had to fly empty to Shanghai.

But Yeh Hui-teh, of the Taiwanese Businessmen Association in Shanghai, said he was not as concerned about this year's air-charter services.

"Since last week, more than 200 businessmen have called to book charter flights," he said.

Travel agencies in Taiwan pointed out that the 20 per cent of the businessmen who had bought tickets were previously unable to get a flight home as all regular services were fully booked.

Transport Vice-minister Tsai Dui said yesterday the island's aviation authorities would co-ordinate with local airlines to provide full refunds to allow those who had pre-booked return flights to switch to the special charters.

Civil Aeronautics Administration director Billy Chang Kuo-cheng, who represented Taiwan in the Macau talks with the mainland, said the charter flights could help passengers save about NT$5,000 ($1,222) and two hours of flying time.

The six Taiwanese airlines involved - China Airlines, EVA Airways, Mandarin Airlines, UNI Airways, Far Eastern Air Transport and TransAsia Airways - said they would operate the charter flights regardless of whether they made a profit.

Airline officials said they did not want to miss the opportunity to be involved in such a historic event, and most importantly were aiming for direct flights after the two sides agreed on transport links in the future.

The six mainland airlines reportedly involved are Air China, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines, China Eastern, Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines.

Hot demand for flights to Taiwan from Shanghai
Eva Woo
25 January 2005
South China Morning Post

Almost all seats on 10 non-stop charter flights from Shanghai to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday were snapped up at the weekend and airlines are looking at ways to boost capacity, state media reports say.

"Tickets were much sought after when sales started on Saturday," Xie Lijun, secretary-general of the Taiwanese Businessmen's Association in Shanghai, said yesterday.

"Almost all seats are taken now, and about 200 applicants are now on waiting lists. As data from airlines' sales outlets is consolidated, there might be some duplicated or invalid ticket orders which could open up seats for them later."

Officials were seeking ways to add more seats to the historic flights and were awaiting a reply from the General Administration for Civil Aviation of China, the director of the administration's East China bureau, Xia Xinghua , told the Oriental Morning Post. The authority was considering switching some flights from Beijing or Guangzhou to Shanghai and would announce a decision soon, the Shanghai Evening Post reported. The direct flights from the three cities are the first by mainland carriers to Taiwan since 1949.

China Eastern Airlines was looking at using larger Airbus planes to carry more people, but a final decision had not been made, Shanghai TV news reported last night.

The Taiwanese Businessmen's Association in Shanghai fielded more than 2,000 booking inquiries before local airlines officially opened ticket sales at their 30-odd outlets in Shanghai and neighbouring cities in Jiangsu province on Saturday.

Yang Jianrong , director of Shanghai's municipal Taiwan Affairs Office, said about 2,400 seats were available on charter flights from the city, to be flown by Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern.

Ticket sales had been slower in Beijing, Chen Guoyuan, secretary-general of the Beijing Association for Taiwan-invested Companies, told the China News Service.

Many Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland said if the January 15 flight deal had been struck earlier, the tickets would have been in much higher demand. Many Taiwanese had already booked normal flights back home, they said.

Official: Taiwan to permit six Chinese carriers to fly historic China-Taipei route for holidays
Tuesday, 25 Jan 2005

AP - Taiwan will permit six Chinese airlines, including national flag carrier Air China, to fly directly between China and Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, after Taiwan temporarily lifted its half-century ban on direct air links, an official said Tuesday.

Since Taiwan and China split in 1949, Taiwan has banned direct air links from mainland China because of security concerns. Flights have had to stop at a third point, usually Hong Kong.

But negotiators agreed early this month to allow 48 round-trip flights for the holiday, which begins Feb. 9. The planes, however, will still have to fly through Hong Kong's airspace, though will not have to land.

Six Chinese carriers have scheduled flights to Taipei, starting Saturday.

Billy Chang, director of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, said the aviation agency will approve the application by China's flag carrier, Air China, but its planes to Taipei will not carry the five-star national flag to avoid "political associations."

Officials said China may want to avoid the impression that the mainland is recognizing the sovereignty of the Taiwan government by allowing planes carrying its national flag to fly to the island's capital.

Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan a part of the Chinese territory.

Five other Chinese carriers _ Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines _ will also receive the flight permits, Chang said.

In addition to the Chinese carriers, six airlines from Taiwan will make the flights between the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Taiwan's two biggest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.

China Rejects Idea New Yr Flights May Open Taiwan Links
26 January 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--China's cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office Wednesday rejected the idea that direct flights with Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday would lead to talks on further direct transport links.

"The Lunar New Year charter flights are just for the convenience of Taiwanese businessmen, and were discussed between aviation groups on the two sides, so it doesn't mean cross-Strait dialogue has resumed," said Lee Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office.

He said that negotiations between Taiwan and China on direct links can only take place if Taiwan admits it is part of China.

In 2005, "we will continue to push for peaceful unification with Taiwan and direct transport links under the one-China basis," Lee said.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and refuses to engage in government-level talks with the island unless it says it is part of China.

Although direct transport links, including by air, between the political rivals have been banned for over five decades, Taiwan and China earlier this month agreed to allow Taiwanese and Chinese airlines to participate in two-way, direct flights during the coming Lunar New Year holiday. The deal was arranged between non-governmental aviation groups.

Taiwan, China flights soar over political standoff

TAIPEI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Arch-rivals Taiwan and China will exchange their first non-stop flights in more than 55 years this weekend amid hopes the temporary charter services can pave the way for permanent direct air links.

But with the two governments at loggerheads over the sensitive issue of Taiwan's political status, analysts held out little hope that the flights would break the ice or herald a significant improvements in relations.

"This is a good beginning," said Philip Yang, a political scientist at National Taiwan University. "But I don't think from now on, everything will be fine.

Commercial airliners from both sides will take thousands of Taiwan men and women who work in China home for the early February Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday in the Chinese-speaking world.

The flights will operate from Jan. 29 to Feb. 20.

Taiwan has banned direct transport links with China since the Nationalists fled to the island in 1949 after losing the mainland to the communists in a civil war. Travellers between Taiwan and the mainland usually have to transit in places such as Hong Kong.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and vows to attack the democratic island of 23 million people if it moves towards formal statehood.

"The major problem is how you are going to bypass or put aside political differences between Taipei and Beijing, since China still insists on the 'one China' principle and Taiwan still insists on rejecting this," Yang said.

Despite booming trade across the narrow Taiwan Strait, with Taiwan firms estimated to have ploughed up to $100 billion into China, the island's pro-independence government is wary of lifting the transport ban for security reasons.

"We are optimistic about the success of the charter flights," said Chang Kuo-cheng, vice chairman of Taiwan's Evergreen Group, which owns EVA Airways Corp. .

"We hope future charters won't just be for Taiwan businessmen and can be normalised."

LANDMARK AGREEMENT

Under the landmark agreement clinched by aviation officials acting in a private capacity, up to 12 carriers will operate 48 charter flights between the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and the Taiwan cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. hopes to be the first Chinese airline to land on Taiwan soil since 1949, planning a 90-minute flight from Guangzhou that will arrive in Taipei at 9.30 a.m. (0130 GMT) on Saturday.

Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd. aims to be the first to fly to the Chinese capital, arriving in Beijing at 12.20 p.m. (0420 GMT) after flying through Hong Kong or Macau airspace.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which formulates Taiwan's China policies, says the new year flights can open the door for charters during other public holidays.

Without the charters, the estimated one million Taiwan people who live in China and must fly through Hong Kong or Macau, which extends their journeys by four hours. The MAC says direct flights can save companies 15-30 percent in transport costs each year.

But permanent links require a measure of goodwill and flexibility that does not exist, analysts say.

"The current situation between the two sides remains grim," Li Weiyi, a spokesman for China's policymaking Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference on Wednesday.

Beijing wants Taiwan to agree it is part of China before any formal talks, whereas Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian insists the two sides negotiate as equals.

"We cannot think that just because there are direct flights, relations between the two sides will head towards spring," said Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute for International Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Direct flights themselves do not mean that Taiwan independence (issues) have changed."

In 2003, holiday charters between Shanghai and Taipei were commissioned to Taiwan airlines. Taiwan did not allow planes to fly directly, requiring them to make stops in Hong Kong or Macau.

Last year, China did not allow a repeat of the 2003 charter flights, fearing the move could help Chen win re-election. (Additional reporting by Richard Dobson in Taipei and John Ruwitch in Beijing)

Taiwan jet takes off for 1st non-stop China flight

TAIPEI, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The first Taiwan commercial plane in more than 55 years to fly non-stop to China took off on Saturday, amid hopes the temporary holiday charters can pave the way for permanent direct air links between the arch-rivals.

The Airbus A330-300 operated by Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd. , flew from Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek international airport and is due to land in the Chinese capital of Beijing at 12.20 p.m. (0420 GMT).

In the mainland, a China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. plane was due to take off from Guangzhou at 8 a.m. (0000 GMT) and become the first Chinese airliner -- except for hijacked planes -- to land in Taiwan since 1949.

It is set to arrive in Taipei at 9.30 a.m. (0130 GMT) after a 90-minute flight from Guangzhou.

Taiwan has banned direct transport links with China since the Nationalists fled to the island in 1949 after losing the mainland to the communists in their civil war. Travellers between Taiwan and the mainland usually have to transit in places such as Hong Kong.

Under a landmark agreement reached in Macau earlier in January, 12 Taiwan and Chinese airlines will operate 48 charter flights from Jan. 29 to Feb. 20, to take thousands of Taiwan men and women who work in China home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Jan 29, 2005
1st direct flight between China and Taiwan takes off

BEIJING - Chinese jetliners carrying Taiwanese home for the Lunar New Year holiday took off on Saturday, the first since the two sides split amid a civil war 56 years ago.

An Air China Boeing 737, carrying some 300 passengers, was the first to take off, leaving Beijing's Capital Airport.

Minutes later, planes from Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines took off from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

In Taipei, a jetliner flying for the island's largest carrier, China Airlines, left with about 300 passengers bound for Beijing.

A half hour later, a flight for Taiwan's second biggest airline, EVA Airways, took off for Beijing with about 220 passengers.

Taiwan had banned Chinese airlines from flying to the island since 1949.

Taipei was worried that Chinese bombers and troop planes disguised as airliners might be used to attack the island.

But Saturday's flights were the first of 48 that Beijing and Taipei approved for the holiday.

This is a rare break in tensions across the Taiwan Strait, one of the world's most dangerous potential flashpoints.

The flights symbolise 'the hopes of the two sides for peace, stability, dialogue and mutual development,' said Mr John Chang, a Taiwan legislator who helped to arrange the flights and spoke at a send-off ceremony at the Beijing airport.

Until Saturday, travellers between Taiwan and China had to stop over in Hong Kong or another third point, turning a trip that could be a few hours into a full day's journey. -- AP

More news about cross strait of today :)


News Thread (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3162843#post3162843)


http://sg.yimg.com/xp/afp/20050129/2140872321.jpg

By "staryuan" from HKDB :

@ Taipei

#1 : China Southern B-2055
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1801s.jpg

#2 Xiamen B-2869
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1802s.jpg

#3 Shangai Airlines B-2498
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1803s.jpg

#4 China Eastern B-6055
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1804s.jpg

#5 Air China B-5065
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1805s.jpg

#6 Hainan B-2637
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1806s.jpg

Passenger criteria stretched for flight to Beijing
Jacky Hsu
30 January 2005
South China Morning Post

More than 430 Taiwanese passengers yesterday boarded two planes to Beijing, seizing the opportunity of the direct charter flights between the mainland and the island.

The number of people on the flights puzzled the Taiwanese media as the service was designed for Taiwanese businessmen and their families returning to the island to celebrate Lunar New Year. This meant there would have been few people from Taiwan who would have wanted to go to the mainland for the celebration.

China Airlines and EVA Airways, which operated the flights to Beijing, insisted all passengers had been cleared by immigration and were eligible to board.

But some passengers admitted as they checked in that they were not businesspeople. "The travel agency arranged for me to board the flight," said a female passenger.

"Originally, they told me yesterday [Friday] at 3pm that I and my family members might not be able to board the plane, but by 5pm, they told me there was no problem."

One woman with a four-month-old baby and a 10-year-old boy took along her Filipino domestic helper. "The agency told me they could help me get the papers for her so that she could also board the plane," she said. The woman admitted that she did not have business status and her husband was a mainlander working in Beijing.

Chiu Tai-san, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, later explained that after checking on the woman's details, they found that she had applied to bring along a "relative" to take care of her children.

"We will follow up the case and deal with it accordingly," Mr Chiu said.

He also denied that authorities had turned a blind eye to some people faking their status to get on board.

Mr Chiu had earlier said that those who violated the application rules would be penalised.

Air china got a new logo??
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1805s.jpg

Air china got a new logo??
http://www.photosharp.com.tw/staryuan/air1805s.jpg

Not really, can read more details at below, #17 posting ;)

link (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=174704)

Nice...any pics of Taiwanese airliners landing in China?

I am still in looking for :D

China Took Short Cuts In Flights To Taiwan -Reports
30 January 2005

TAIPEI (AP)--The first nonstop flights from China to Taiwan were supposed to trim hours off the normally inconvenient trip and ease political tensions, but they may have cut too much, news reports said Sunday.

On Saturday, Taiwan temporarily lifted a 56-year-old ban on direct transport links with the mainland so Taiwanese living there could fly home more easily for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. But it insisted that the flights first fly south through Hong Kong's airspace before heading east to their destinations in Taiwan's two largest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Normally, flights between Taiwan and mainland China must stop in a third point, usually Hong Kong or Macau - special Chinese territories not directly governed by Beijing. The stopover usually adds about four hours to the trip.

But four of Saturday's seven flights arrived well ahead of schedule, with Air China's (0753.HK) flight from Beijing to Kaohsiung taking only 3 3/4 hours - one hour less than the scheduled time.

Taiwanese news media speculated Sunday that the planes had taken short cuts and failed to pass through Hong Kong territory.

A senior Taiwanese official, Chiu Tai-san, said authorities will investigate the allegations.

But Billy Chang, head of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, said he believed the Chinese pilots had followed the Taiwanese rule, but a tail wind had allowed speedier flights.

Hong Kong's air controllers also allowed the Chinese pilots to pass through the very edge of their airspace rather than directly through the territory, Chang told reporters.

The China Times, a leading Taiwanese newspaper, quoted Air China pilot Zhang Hongwei as saying that air controllers in both mainland China and Hong Kong gave the pilots "green lights" and guided them through the fastest route.

"We had awaited this moment for more than 50 years. Of course, we wanted to get here as soon as possible," the newspaper quoted another pilot, Ding Xinguo of Shanghai Airlines, as saying.

Taiwan refused to allow the Chinese planes to fly directly across the Taiwan Strait partly because of security concerns. Taiwan has long feared that Chinese jet fighters and bombers might try to blend into busy commercial air traffic and attack the island.

But observers say Taiwan also wants to retain a sense of separation between the two sides, which were split by a civil war in 1949.

Tickets for Beijing-Taipei Charter Flights Selling Out

BEIJING, Jan 31 Asia Pulse - Tickets for Beijing-Taipei Lunar New Year charter flights scheduled for Feb. 5 have been hotly sought after, with many people failing to get one.

All tickets for the 125-seat charter flight scheduled to depart Beijing for Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport Feb. 5 have been booked, according to Chen Kuo-yuan, secretary-general of the Taiwan Business Association in Beijing.

There will be three more flights until Feb 20 for the convenience of Beijing-based Taiwan businessmen and their relatives during the Lunar New Year period, Chen said.

Bookings are much more heavily sought-after than had been estimated, Chen added.

Seven charter flights operated by six mainland carriers arrived in either Taipei or Kaohsiung from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou Saturday, the first day of the charter services, carrying about 1,700 Taiwanese passengers home for the holidays. They were the first mainland civilian aircraft to arrive legally in Taiwan in 56 years.

The authorities, as well as private airline operators from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, reached a consensus Jan. 15 on the long-awaited direct air links, although the charter flight services will last only for 23 days over the holiday period.

The two sides agreed that during the Jan. 29-Feb. 20 period, six air carriers from each side will operate a total of 48 charter flights to serve Taiwanese businessmen and their dependents.

(CNA)

Nice...any pics of Taiwanese airliners landing in China?

Good for recording though it was not clear enough :)


http://www.tvbs.com.tw/FILE_DB/newsphoto/tzeng/200501/tzeng-20050129141100.JPG http://www.tvbs.com.tw/FILE_DB/newsphoto/tzeng/200501/tzeng-20050129141108.JPG http://www.tvbs.com.tw/FILE_DB/newsphoto/tzeng/200501/tzeng-20050129165940.JPG http://www.tvbs.com.tw/FILE_DB/newsphoto/tzeng/200501/tzeng-20050129165948.JPG

Air China says Taiwan flights faster than expected, denies short-cut

BEIJING, Feb 1 (AFP) - Planes from flag carrier Air China arrived up to one hour early on the first non-stop flights to Taiwan over the weekend, but the company denied Tuesday it had taken a short-cut violating agreements.

Addressing concern in Taiwan that the planes might have breached agreements between the two sides, he said they had indeed travelled via Hong Kong airspace, as had been arranged.

"We did pass through Hong Kong airspace," Air China spokesman Wang Yongsheng told AFP.

All Air China planes on Saturday made their flights faster than expected, but one flight in particular, linking Beijing with the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung, was far ahead of schedule, he said.

"It landed one hour earlier than expected," Wang said. "We had never flown from Beijing to Taiwan, so before we estimated that it would take four and a half hours, but actually it took one hour less."

Saturday marked the historic first non-stop flights between China and Taiwan in nearly 56 years, taking home Taiwan businesspeople and their families for the traditional Lunar New Year festival.

The early arrivals of the planes triggered speculation that the planes had made "a short-cut," according to Taiwan media.

Previously, all legal civilian flights between the two sides have had to make an expensive stop-over in a third area, usually Hong Kong, and in most cases passengers have even had to change planes.

Although the weekend's flight were non-stop, they still passed through Hong Kong airspace, making for a lengthy detour.

Taiwan is likely to insist any future permanent non-stop flights will have to take a similar route, due to concerns that military airplanes from China could use civilian flight paths in a future surprise attack, observers say.

from carnoc
http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294231136000.jpg

at Beijing capital airport
http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294332145150.jpg

台湾首航北京 :)
http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294559139181.jpg http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294724148230.jpg http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294742145620.jpg http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294758148280.jpg http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294773148231.jpg http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn:8000/PIC/1107294788145152.jpg

Lunar New Year Charter Flights Popular: Carriers

TAIPEI, Feb 2 Asia Pulse - With the special Lunar New Year holiday charter flights kicking off between Taiwan and mainland China last Saturday, Taiwan-bound flights from Shanghai have been extremely popular, aviation companies said Tuesday.

Tickets on flights from Shanghai to Taiwan offered by Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) (TAIEX:2610), Far East Air Transport Corp., Trans Asia Airways and the mainland's Xiamen Airlines have all been fully booked by mainland-based Taiwan businessmen and their families wishing to spend the Feb. 9 Chinese New Year holiday at home, they said.

For instance, more than 300 seats on a CAL A330-300 flight slated to take off from Shanghai for Taipei Saturday have all been reserved, with a large number of passengers on a waiting list.

Xiamen Airlines will provide the next charter flight Wednesday from Guangzhou to Kaohsiung, with about 80 percent of its tickets booked. However, only a few tickets on the return trip have been sold.

On Friday, Trans Asia Airways will inaugurate its maiden charter flight from Taipei to Guangzhou. Only some 20 percent of the tickets on the Guangzhou-bound flight have been sold, while nearly 80 percent of the tickets on the Taipei-bound flight have been booked.

On Saturday, Far East Air Transport Corp. will also launch its maiden charter service between Taipei and Guangzhou, with the Guangzhou-Taipei flight fully loaded. Seats on its Feb. 7 round-trip flights connecting Taipei and Shanghai have also all been booked.

The special charter flights were designed exclusively for mainland-based Taiwan businessmen and their dependents flying between the two sides -- Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing in mainland China -- from Jan. 29 - Feb. 20.

A total of nine flights were provided by eight aviation companies from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait on the first day of the service, which marked the historic landings of mainland carriers on Taiwan soil in more than 55 years.

Direct transport, trade and postal links across the strait have been banned since 1949, when Taiwan and the mainland separated in the wake of a civil war.

(CNA)

Air China Makes Last Cross-Strait Charter Flight Before Spring Festival

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 5 February: Air China's CA1087, carrying 136 Taiwan businessmen and their families to Taipei Saturday (5 February), fulfilled the company's last charter flight before the Spring Festival, which falls on 9 February.

The plane took off here at 10.00 a.m. (all times local)and landed in Taipei at around 1.30 p.m. It is expected to return to Beijing at 7.30 p.m. Saturday.

The flight offered its passengers festival gifts and delicate dishes with traditional dumplings specially prepared for the Chinese lunar new year, said officials with Air China.

On 29 January, CA1087 became the first charter plane in 56 years from the Chinese mainland carrying some 242 Taiwan business people and their families that landed in Taipei.

Air China has run three round-trip non-stop charter flights before the Spring Festival. It will carry another round-trip cross-strait flight on 13 February.

Chen calls for direct cargo charter flights with mainland
Jacky Hsu in Taipei
17 February 2005
South China Morning Post

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian yesterday called on the mainland to discuss launching direct cargo charter flights with the island.

He said the historic, two-way passenger charter flights during the Lunar New Year had opened a window of opportunity for the two sides to move towards reconciliation.

Mr Chen was speaking to more than 400 guests, including leading Taiwanese businessmen based on the mainland, at a party in Taipei. He told them the success of the direct cross-strait charter flights had established a model for further co-operation between the two sides.

The next step would be for both sides to operate cargo charter flights, which had long been desired by mainland-based Taiwanese businessmen, he said.

"The success of the passenger charters indicates that if there is sincerity, nothing is impossible," he said, adding Taiwan was ready to hold talks with the mainland on the cargo flights and any other issues.

This year, for the first time since 1949, Taipei allowed mainland planes to fly to the island to take Taiwanese businessmen home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The flights were the result of a landmark deal struck by the two sides at talks in Macau in mid-January. They started on January 29 and will end on Sunday.

Mr Chen said he had been sincere about mending fences with the mainland since becoming president in 2000 and had demonstrated his goodwill time and again. Those gestures included his pledges not to change the status quo of Taiwan, in the hope of creating an opportunity to improve cross-strait ties.

"In the past four years or so, we have extended at least 30 olive branches [to the mainland]," he said.

This indicated his "firm position and pragmatic approach" to seeking dialogue and reconciliation.

Taiwan proposed charter cargo flights in 2003, and in May last year announced regulations governing such flights. But without approval from the mainland, the proposal did not fly.

The announcement was ignored by Beijing on the grounds that it was a unilateral proposal from Taipei rather than a reciprocal scheme.

Direct charter cargo operations would save Taiwanese businessmen time and money but would increase the competitive pressure on foreign firms currently in the cargo business, such as UPS and Federal Express.

A spokeswoman for UPS urged the Taiwanese government yesterday to allow foreign firms to join in direct cargo flights, if they were launched.

But even if the foreign firms were left out, the impact on their balance sheets might not be as bad as some expected, she said. That was because companies such as UPS were able to promise next-day delivery even without direct flights.

Flights give hope to better Taiwan-China ties

TAIPEI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The smooth exchange of non-stop charter flights between arch-foes Taiwan and China has raised hopes for permanent air links and better ties, but a long dispute over Taiwan independence can quickly destroy any goodwill.

More than 10,000 China-based Taiwan businesspeople and their families took the special charters to return home for the Lunar New Year, officials said, flying directly across the narrow Taiwan Strait for the first time in more than 55 years.

The temporary service, which began on Jan. 29, ends on Sunday with a plane of China's Hainan Airlines the last to take off from Taipei at 5.30 p.m. (0930 GMT) for Beijing.

"Direct flights are so convenient. In the future, I hope we can have direct charters not only for the three major holidays, but for weekends as well," said businessman Ke Hung-chi, who owns a electric wire and cable factory in China's Guangdong Province.

The New Year, Dragon Boat Festival in June, and Mid-Autumn Festival in September are the main holidays.

Taiwan prohibits direct air links with China for security reasons. Beijing views the self-ruled island as Chinese territory and threatens to invade if it declares formal independence.

Travellers must usually fly through a third destination like Hong Kong, lengthening their journeys by about 4 hours.

"Not only Taiwan businessmen should be allowed on direct charter flights, there should be more exchanges, more openings across the Taiwan Strait," Ke said.

Last week, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian offered to open talks with China on direct cargo flights as the next step.

A government report says direct air links will cut transportation costs by 15-30 percent.

"The Lunar New Year charter flights offer a good model and show it's possible for the two sides to set politics aside," said Chao Chun-shan, a China watcher at Chengchi University.

However, tensions are expected to rise as China's parliament prepares to ratify in March a proposed anti-secession law that aipei officials say will give Beijing a legal basis to attack the democratic island of 23 million people.

Beijing may also view a Taiwan government probe into whether a leading Taiwan semiconductor firm, United Microelectronics Corp., illegally invested in China as unfriendly.

"Cross-Strait relations are too fragile and sensitive ... Things can easily go wrong," Chao said.

A setback would be a major disappointment to Taiwan companies that have poured an estimated $100 billion into China since the 1980s, lured by lower costs and a common culture.

Analysts say direct flights are essential for Taiwan to remain competitive in the region. Taiwan airlines also want to be able to expand into China's market and such hopes were behind their willingness to operate the latest charters at a loss.

A few of the flights were full, but many of the 48 planes flew half empty as only Taiwan businesspeople and their families were allowed to buy tickets. One Shanghai-Kaohsiung return flight had no passenger on one leg.

"We don't really care if we make money this year. The losses are nothing compared with the vast market potential in the long run," a Taiwan airline official said on condition of anonymity.

China, Taiwan Complete 3 Wks Of Direct Holiday Flights
20 February 2005

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)--A Chinese jetliner flew Taiwanese passengers back to Beijing Sunday, ending three weeks of special air travel between Taiwan and China for the Lunar New Year holiday.

About 200 Taiwanese boarded the Hainan Airlines plane for the four-hour flight to Beijing, cutting normal travel time by several hours.

"We should have direct flights every day," an unidentified passenger told the TVBS Cable News.

Taiwan temporarily ended a 56-year-old ban on direct passenger links with China to allow Taiwanese working on the mainland back for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Direct links were severed after the communists took over the mainland in 1949. Passengers have to stop at a third point, usually Hong Kong, before flying into Taiwan from the mainland.

Since Jan. 29, six Chinese and six Taiwanese airlines flew 48 direct flights, carrying more than 10,000 Taiwanese in total, officials said.

China Airlines Posts 5.6% Profit From Cross-Strait Flights

TAIPEI, Feb. 21 Asia Pulse - China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's largest carrier, has posted a 5.6 per cent profit from the four round-trip passenger charter flights it provided across the Taiwan Strait during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, a CAL executive said Friday.

Speaking at a public hearing on cross-strait transportation issues organized by a group of ruling Democratic Progressive Party legislators, CAL Chairman Chiang Yao-chung said that even though the unprecedented two-way, non-stop cross-strait passenger charter flights were launched hastily and the occupancy rate fell short of expectations, his company still managed to turn a profit.

"This means that cross-strait flight services could be profitable," Chiang said.

He added that the average passenger occupancy rate for CAL's four round-trip Lunar New Year cross-strait charter flights was 60 per cent.

Under a landmark cross-strait deal, six mainland Chinese airlines and six Taiwanese carriers have been allowed to operate a total of 48 round-trip passenger charter flights between Jan. 29 and Feb. 20 for homebound Taiwan businessmen operating in mainland China - commonly known as "taishang" - for Lunar New Year celebrations.

While recognizing the significance of the flights, Chiang also presented his views on the opening of the much-anticipated cross-strait cargo charter flights.

Chiang said mainland China's three commercial airline groups had only 13 all-cargo planes, while CAL alone had 17 all-cargo aircraft and ranked seventh in the world in terms of annual cargo transportation volume.

"We are confident of offering the best cargo transport services should the ban on direct cross-strait cargo charter flights be lifted," Chiang said, adding that CAL had long been prepared to launch such services and could begin operations soon after the two sides of the Taiwan Strait came to terms on the issue.

As to the formula for the proposed cross-strait cargo charter flights, Chiang said he hoped the flights could be direct and non-stop.

In the initial stage, Chiang said, the destinations could include Taipei on the Taiwan side and Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou on the mainland side.

In the second stage, the mainland's Xiamen, Kunming, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Nanjing could be included and carriers could be allowed to extend cross-strait charter flights to major European destinations.

In the first stage, Chiang said, cross-strait charter flights could focus on transporting products produced by "taishang" but he said that products manufactured in the United States and European countries should also be included in the second stage to maximize the economic effects of the operations.

Direct cross-strait air and shipping links have been banned since 1949, when the Chinese communists took control of the mainland.

President Chen Shui-bian said earlier this week he hoped the two sides could discuss the opening of cross-strait cargo charter flights based on the successful Lunar New Year passenger charter flights.

Speaking at Friday's public hearing, a spokesman for EVA Airways, Taiwan's second-largest carrier, said that if direct cross-strait cargo charter flights did not open soon, local carriers would lose opportunities to enter the vast mainland airborne cargo market.

The spokesman said that EVA planned to cooperate with Shanghai Airlines in setting up a joint venture air cargo company, but he would not elaborate.

(CNA)

Taiwan calls for talks on direct cargo flights with China

TAIPEI, Feb 21 (AFP) - Taiwan on Monday urged rival China to open talks on direct cargo flights between the island and the Chinese mainland following the first non-stop passenger services between them since 1949.

Taiwan's China policy decision-maker Joseph Wu, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, said Taipei was prepared to talk with Beijing over the issue and urged it to set aside differences.

"As cargo flights would be on a regular basis, negotiations would definitely be more important," Wu said at a luncheon with a group of executives from Taiwan's passenger airlines.

Temporary non-stop direct passenger flights which ended Sunday were introduced three weeks ago for the first time since the two sides split in 1949 to transport Taiwanese businesspeople home over the Chinese Lunar New Year period.

Taipei had previously banned direct transport links with the mainland, only allowing exchanges with stops in third ports, conscious of Beijing's threat to invade if the island moves towards independence.

At the center of the Taipei-Beijing dispute is Beijing's "one China" policy, which regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

"We hope the mainland side would react positively to our call and not limit itself," Wu said.

He hinted that Taipei would show flexibility in any talks with Beijing on the issue the way it did for the direct passenger flights.

The council's previous proposal was for one-way indirect charter cargo flights to a specified number of airports, but now it could accept the proposal of two-way non-stop charter services to multiple airports, Wu said.

"I hope very much the experience of successful direct passenger flights would persist... to usher in a new era for the cross-strait ties," Wu said.

China on Monday also called on Taiwan's government to allow permanent direct air links between the two sides.

"Realizing direct transport links, including by air, has long been a common aspiration of people on both sides of the (Taiwan) Straits," the state-run China Daily said in an editorial.

In another positive sign for air links, six local carriers said their executives had been invited by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to a gathering in Beijing.

Six mainland and six Taiwanese carriers were authorized to operate non-stop charter flights across the strait between January 29 and February 20 to bring Taiwan businesspeople and their families home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

China calls for permanent direct air links with Taiwan

BEIJING, Feb 21 (AFP) - China Monday told Taiwan's government to put its people's interests ahead of its "own narrow-minded political calculations" and allow permanent direct air links between the two sides, state media said.

Three weeks of direct flights between the bitter rivals ended Sunday after the non-stop links were introduced for the first time in 55 years to transport Taiwanese businesspeople home over the Chinese Lunar New Year period.

The Taipei government had previously banned direct transport links with the mainland, only allowing exchanges with stops in third ports, conscious of Beijing's threat to invade if the island moves towards independence.

Chinese media Monday said the flights had been welcomed by both travellers and airlines and should become a more permanent arrangement.

"Realizing direct transport links, including by air, has long been a common aspiration of people on both sides of the (Taiwan) Straits," the state-run China Daily, often used by the government to get its views across, said in an editorial.

"And booming cross-Straits economic and personal exchanges have also highlighted the real need to start such services.

"However, the common will of the people across the Straits has been constantly brushed aside by the authorities in Taiwan, who fear that direct transport links could undermine their 'Taiwan independence' bid.

"Clearly, it is high time for the authorities in Taiwan to build on the success of the non-stop flights scheme and reverse its ban on direct air links. "In so doing, they would put people's interests ahead of their own narrow-minded political calculations."

China views Taiwan as a renegade province waiting to be reunified, by force if necessary, and bilateral relations have plunged to new lows since independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000.

Such threats and a buildup of China's military arsenal prompted the United States and Japan to jointly issue a statement over the weekend declaring that easing tensions in the Straits was part of their "common strategic objectives".

They also urged China to "improve transparency of its military affairs".

Beijing responded by expressing "serious concern" about the statement.

"Any irresponsible comments on China's building of national defence for the sake of safeguarding its state security and territorial integrity are unsupportable," said foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan.

It was the first time during their half-century-old alliance that the US and Japan have expressed shared anxiety over tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

Non-stop flights should herald direct links across Straits
21 February 2005
Business Daily Update

With the landing of a Hainan Airlines flight from Taipei at Beijing Capital International Airport last night, non-stop charter flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan over the holiday period came to a successful conclusion.

The much-applauded cross-Straits charter flights, which started on January 29, are a giant step towards hopefully ending the indirect air link between the mainland and Taiwan, ongoing since 1949.

Without direct flights, travellers between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have to fly via a third place, usually Hong Kong or Macao, making what should be a journey of a couple of hours into a 10-hour ordeal, on average, if going through Hong Kong.

This time, the non-stop charter flights were not really direct because the planes still had to fly over Hong Kong airspace. But the journey time was still reduced to four hours.

However, the benefit this time was limited to Taiwanese business people and their relatives based on the mainland.

And due to the limited capacity -- only 48 round-trip charter flights were arranged under this one-off cross-Straits charter flights agreement -- only a fraction of the estimated 1 million mainland-based Taiwanese business people were able to fly.

Realizing direct transport links, including by air, has long been a common aspiration of people on both sides of the Straits.

And booming cross-Straits economic and personal exchanges have also highlighted the real need to start such services.

The cross-Strait indirect trade volume reached US$63.48 billion last year.

By last September, 32.91 million Taiwanese had visited the mainland since 1987.

The overwhelming backing the non-stop charter flight scheme received from people across the Straits has once again demonstrated the public's desire to see direct transport links restored after a half-century ban.

The booming economic and personal exchanges also show that a case-by-case solution to meet special needs at a special time is by and large unsuitable.

A roundabout trip through a third destination is a huge waste of both time and money.

A one-off style agreement falls far short of people's expectations of a regular direct air service.

Clearly, it is high time for the authorities in Taiwan to build on the success of the non-stop flights scheme and reverse its ban on direct air links. It is hoped that yesterday's successful conclusion of the 2005 cross-Straits charter flights is not the ending but the beginning of a new chapter in our pursuit of regular direct links.

New Policy For Nonstop Taiwan Cargo Charters
23 February 2005

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Beijing will Friday announce a new policy on cross-Straits cargo charter flights in an effort to push direct air links with Taiwan, China Daily reports.

The announcement comes after the nonstop flights between China and Taiwan for the Chinese New Year holidays.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China's Office of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Affairs Director Pu Zhaozhou said the mainland would take steps to facilitate the implementation of direct air links to Taiwan, including chartered cargo services, the newspaper says.

The move is the latest after Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian offered to discuss the issue with Beijing last Wednesday, the report says.

Taipei Airlines Association Chairman Lo Ta-hsin declined to give a date for chartered cargo flights to begin, but said the direct passenger charters this year provided a 'sound basis' for future chartered cargo flights to Taiwan, the newspaper reports.

Chartered cargo flights reduce airline operating costs and improve competition, the newspaper says, citing Far Eastern Air Transport Corp. Chairman Stephen Tsuei.

Taiwan DPP, PFP Political Parties Reach Agreements
24 February 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and the leader of a major opposition party, the People First Party's James Soong, Thursday agreed to work toward charter cargo flights with political rival China, as well as full-scale direct China links.

Reading from a prepared statement after a meeting between Chen and Soong, a spokesman also said Chen, of the Democratic Progressive Party, pledged not to change the status quo with China, including making any change to Taiwan's name, nor will Taiwan hold any public referendums on China during his term in office.

Chen was re-elected to a new four-year term last March. [ 24-02-05 0546GMT ]

"I will not declare Taiwan independence or change Taiwan's name (from the Republic of China) during my term," said Chen, in a speech after the meeting.

The name issue is important because China has said it opposes any changes that could move the island toward formal independence.

Chen has proposed a new constitution that some political watchers say could include the removal of "China" from Taiwan's official name, the Republic of China.

Taiwan and China separated in 1949 amid civil war, and China has vowed to take the democratic island by force if it moves toward formal independence.

Chen and Soong also agreed to work toward peace with China.

"Our goal is to pursue peaceful development on the two sides (of the Taiwan Strait)," said Chen.

Chen added Taiwan's political parties will join forces in bringing forth a legal mechanism for the normalization of relations between Taipei and Beijing.

The political leaders didn't discuss broader interparty cooperation beyond cross-Strait peace and Taiwan's national defense.

Chen said he and Soong agreed to resolve cross-Strait problems pragmatically and buttress Taiwan's defense capabilities.

Stock market dealers said the most important aspect of the Chen-Soong meeting was that the two political leaders appear to be mending their relationship after a tough 2004, which included a hard fought presidential election in March and legislative vote in December.

"At least they're talking. That's the first step toward cooperation," said a dealer at Taiwan Securities. He called the series of small agreements made by the two a slight positive for the market.

- By Katy Chang and Dan Nystedt, Dow Jones Newswires

Taiwan rejects China call on charter flights
By KATHRIN HILLE and ANDREW YEH
26 February 2005
Financial Times

Taiwan rejected calls from China for negotiations on further non-stop charter flights across the Taiwan Strait yesterday, highlighting the fragility of its recent detente with the mainland.

Tang Yi, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said China hoped the two sides could "follow the routine" of the arrangements for charter flights over the Chinese New Year earlier this month.

"We hope to start to discuss the arrangement of charter flights for the Tomb Sweeping festival and other Chinese festivals as soon as possible," he said.

The offer represented China's first specific proposal of how the two sides should build on the new year deal, which allowed the first non- stop flights between Taiwan and the mainland in more than 50 years.

It came a day after Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president, and James Soong, leader of a China-friendly opposition party, agreed to co-operate on a more open and pragmatic cross-Strait policy.

However, Taipei responded cautiously, saying it wanted first to discuss cargo flights - a reaction that highlights the suspicions the island's pro-independence government harbours about China.

Beijing's recent "selective goodwill gestures" were tactics to conceal its move to pass an "anti-secession law", said the Mainland Affairs Council, Taipei's China policy body, in a statement.

The National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp legislative body, is expected to pass an anti-secession law early next month aimed at enshrining its claim of sovereignty over the island.

Beijing claims it has been forced to take this step by Taiwan's moves towards independence over the past decade. But Taiwan is concerned such a law could legitimise the use of force against the island, and it claims it would be a unilateral change of status quo.

Taiwan government officials said that against this background, Taipei needed more time to observe Beijing's next moves. "We want to expand links with China but our priority is the facilitation of cargo transport," said a senior MAC official.

Since a cargo deal would be different from the charter flights, negotiations would take longer, giving Taipei more time to assess the anti-secession law once passed.

More charter flights urged for holidays
Nailene Chou Wiest in Beijing and Jacky Hsu in Taipei
26 February 2005
South China Morning Post

Beijing wants charter flights across the Taiwan Strait to become a regular feature during holiday periods and also plans to help the island's farmers sell their products on the mainland, officials said yesterday.

But Tang Yi of the Taiwan Affairs Office said that a proposal from Taipei for direct cargo flights had been put on the back-burner.

Mr Tang said that the two sides should instead launch regular passenger flights to serve those cities on the mainland that have significant Taiwanese business communities.

With Qingming tomb-sweeping day falling on April 5, the details should be worked out soon, he added.

On the prospect of direct cargo flights, Mr Tang said his office had suggested that further discussions be held through non-governmental groups.

Meanwhile, commerce and agricultural ministry officials spelled out measures aimed at helping Taiwanese farmers break into the mainland market, including assisting them in market research and simplifying customs procedures.

Taipei meanwhile branded Beijing's proposed charter flights and agricultural exchanges as "selective goodwill to cover up its planned enactment of the anti-secession law".

"It is their usual stick-and-carrot approach in dealing with Taiwan," said Chiu Tai-san, of Taipei's Mainland Affairs Council.

"On our proposal to launch the cargo charter flights, which is beneficial to the cross-strait economy, the mainland has stopped short of making any concrete response to us."

The mainland plans to enact the anti-secession law next month. Its purpose is to prevent Taiwan becoming independent.

Taiwan EVA Air to form JV with Shanghai Air-paper

TAIPEI, March 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan's second-largest airline, EVA Airways Corp., plans to form a joint venture air cargo company with China's Shanghai Airlines Co. Ltd., a newspaper said on Wednesday.

The United Daily News quoted Evergreen Group Chairman Chang Kuo-cheng as saying the move was part of his company's push into China's cargo market. The group also aims to offer marine cargo services to between 30 and 50 cities within 3 years, from 14 now.

A spokesperson for Shanghai Airlines said a deal may be in the works, but declined to give details.

"There probably is this matter you mentioned, but because there has not yet been any final agreement and it still requires approval by the civil aviation authority, the process is very complicated and I can't disclose it," said the spokesperson.

A spokeswoman for EVA Airways said: "We have always had a cooperative relationship with Shanghai Air, but it's only just discussions. Whether or not it's been finalised, we only heard of it when we saw it in the papers today."

The Evergreen Group owns EVA Airways and Evergreen Marine Corp., the world's third-largest container shipper.

Chang said details of the joint venture, including the shareholding structure, would become more clear by the end of the year, the newspaper reported.

Chang told Reuters in January that local governments in China had approached Evergreen to invest there. The group clinched a deal in January to take a 50 percent stake worth US$125 million in China's second-busiest port, Ningbo.

In 2001, EVA invested in a cargo terminal in Xiamen with other Taiwan airlines.

EVA's shares fell 0.35 percent to T$14.35 by 0125 GMT, against a 0.27 percent dip in the Taiwan market Shanghai Air's shares closed at 4.42 yuan on Tuesday.

US$=T$31.4
Additional reporting by Helen Ding in Shanghai

EVA, Shanghai Airlines to decide cargo JV details
Business Daily Update
China Daily

Taiwan EVA Airways Corp and Shanghai Airlines Co Ltd will decide before the end of the year the details of a cargo transport joint venture (JV) between the two carriers, revealed Evergreen group vice chairman KC Chang.

The joint venture will be based in the Chinese mainland.

Separately, Chang said in the report that Evergreen Marine Corp expects to increase its service spots in mainland to 30-50 within three years from current 14 spots.

EVA Airways and Evergreen Marine are members of the Evergreen group.

Beijing seeks more talks on cross-strait flights
7 April 2005
South China Morning Post

Mainland aviation authorities yesterday sent a letter to the Taipei Airlines Association (TAA) seeking a quick resumption of talks on cross-strait cargo and holiday charter flights.

The letter, sent by Pu Zhaozhou , the Hong Kong and Macau affairs director of the Civil Aviation Authority of China, came shortly after the vice-chairman of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang, Chiang Pin-kung, returned from a visit to the mainland.

Mr Chiang reached a consensus with mainland officials on ways to improve cross-strait ties, including operating cross-strait cargo charter flights.

Mr Pu called for the new chairman of the civilian TAA, Fan Chih-chiang, to send delegates to discuss details of regular charter flights. But Mr Fan said he had yet to obtain the Taiwanese government's authorisation to attend talks with the mainland.

Taiwan Calls Mainland China to Positively Response to Charter Cargo Flights When Echoing Cautiously
Beijing's Three Gifts after Lien Chan Visits
Esther Guan
06 May 2005
Taiwan Business News

Taipei, 5 May (InfoTimes)- After carefully sand table exercise, Taiwan's cabinet presented counter proposal over the three gifts Beijing sent to Taiwan after KMT leader Lien Chan's visit. Beijing agreed to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan, grant over ten items of Taiwan agriculture product zero-tariff advantage and send giant pandas to Taiwan. In responding, the cabinet urged Beijing to positively calls of direct charter air cargo flights via models agreed by both sides.

Beijing has been pushing for charter cargo flights for a while, but the process had been deadlocked because controversies on the pre-condition of negotiation as Beijing requested to talk the issue via private sectors.

Taiwan companies invest in the mainland China is eager for direct air cargo flights as nearly over 90% of production capacities in electronics industry of the island had moved westward. They is the group calling for direct cargo flights the most earnestly to meet requirement of real time assembly.

In the past years, a growing number of foreign forwarders have been taking the advantages of Taiwan's absence in the direst air-cargo market of the mainland China. US-based Federal Express opened direct express service from Shanghai to Frankfurt in March. In May, it opened direct flights from Shanghai's Pudong airport to the airport located in central Japan. DHL provided four direct cargo flights in a week between Beijing and Hong Kong in mid April and one flight between Shanghai and the US a week. US-based UPS introduced Gongchou to the US flights and the POLAR air cargo company opened four flights a week from Shanghai to the US.

Airlines from Singapore also introduced air cargo fights from Xiamen and Nanjing to the US. To the development, local air cargo business circles are very nervous, worrying that Taiwan airlines are in danger of being mergers by foreign brands if the situation developing with no improvement.

On proposal of the green tunnel opened specially for Taiwan fruits on zero-tariff basis, the government said related agriculture measures are better to negotiate via the platform of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The cabinet is willing to talk on details with the mainland China on issues such as the items enjoying the treatment, the transparency on Customs clearance procedure and the expansion of import channels.

On issue of Beijing's deregulation of visiting of the island by Chinese tourists, the cabinet proposed both sides to resolve controversies first and then make the most proper arrangement agreed by both governments. The controversial issues include the check of mainlanders certifications, the repatriation of mainlander visitors left, the cooperation regulation of agencies across the strait and the settlement scheme of disputes originated from travelling.

This time, Taiwan authorities said it would combine the issues of direct-charter air cargo flights and the deregulation of mainlander tourists to the island in talks. Officials revealed the government might allow dual-assignment scheme in proceeding related dialogue. That is, government officials should attend talks between the mainland China and Taiwan representatives from private sector assigned by the government because the government has to know clearly every details of the negotiation.

Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office Director Chen Yunlin proposed in the previous day that Taiwan private organizations could send delegations to the mainland China for talks of deregulating of sightseeing of mainlanders. Travel Agent Association of ROC president Tseng Seng-hai dismissed the possibility, saying that private sector needs the authorization of Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to proceed similar deals.

Tseng accompanied PFP chairman James Soong to visit China on 5 May. Sources said Tseng might bring the cabinet's proposal to the matter in the trip. Tseng earlier proposed that the mainland China could announce deregulation on the travelling of general mainlanders to Taiwan, leaving other enforcement to Taiwan authorities, such as management rules.

At present, MAC only allowed those mainlanders with foreign resident certifications and those mainlanders via a third nation to visit Taiwan. Ordinary mainlanders are not allowed to visit Taiwan. There are over 200 groups of 3,000 people visiting Taiwan last months with some of them transiting from Japan to Taiwan. Beijing does not allow them to travel to Taiwan up to now.

Charter Cargo Flights Top Cross-Straight Agenda : MAC
By Sofia Wu
6 May 2005
Central News Agency English News

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Taiwan looks forward to negotiating with China for the opening of direct charter cargo flights across the Taiwan Strait, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said Friday.

The nation's top mainland policy planner made the remarks while meeting with a parliamentary delegation from Sweden.

Following the visits to China by Taiwan's two opposition leaders -- Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan from April 26 through May 3 and People First Party Chairman James Soong from May 5-13, Wu said the ROC government is ready to discuss the opening of direct charter cargo flights to facilitate trade exchanges.

Wu said if Beijing is sincere in defusing cross-strait tension as it claims in inviting Taiwan's opposition leaders, it should resume dialogue with Taiwan's duly elected government on practical issues.

"Charter cargo flights could be a priority topic for cross-strait consultations," Wu said.

In the future, Wu said, Taiwan also hopes to negotiate with China over the establishment of a currency settlement mechanism and agreements on protecting Taiwan investors in China and avoiding double taxation on Taiwan investors.

Cross-Strait flights to hit CNAC's ticket sales
Gladys Tang
28 May 2005
Hong Kong Standard

China National Aviation Company said it will lose passengers if a direct air service across the Taiwan Strait is established, though its 43.29 percent-owned Dragon Airlines and 51 percent-held Air Macau are ready to add new routes to replace lost revenue.

"Some transit passengers will be lost if the direct flights across the Taiwan Strait are allowed," CNAC chairman Kong Dong said after the company's annual general meeting.

"However, we are confident that the passenger volume will increase with the activities between mainland and Taiwan."

Direct flights and shipping between the mainland and Taiwan are banned. However, Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao said when meeting two weeks ago with Taiwan's People First Party chairman James Soong that the two governments should promote direct regular flights through professional associations. Both parties agreed to co- operate on establishing the air links as early as next year.

Market watchers reckon that carriers flying between Hong Kong and Taiwan, including CNAC and Cathay Pacific, will lose traffic if direct flights begin.

CNAC also faces pressure from high oil prices.

Average fuel costs rose 40 percent year-on-year to more than US$1.40 (HK$10.90) a gallon, said Dragonair chief financial officer Francis Wai.

Fuel accounted for 22 percent of the company's total costs during the first four months of this year, versus 20 percent last year. That's lower than Cathay Pacific's current 30 percent, up from 24 percent last year.

"Our [oil] cost is lower because we serve short-haul flights," Wai said.

The Hong Kong government approved Dragonair's and Cathay's request to raise the fuel surcharge to HK$86 per ticket from HK$42 for short hauls, effective next month.

For long hauls, it will climb to HK$250 from HK$118.

Separately, Air Macau chairman Gu Tiefei said his carrier is still in talks with Shun Tak and other companies to create a budget carrier after Australian airline Virgin Blue dropped out.

Taiwan China Air May Seek Alternatives To China Cargo Mkt
13 June 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW) said Monday it may seek other opportunities in China's cargo market, though it remains hopeful it can buy a 25% stake in China Cargo Airlines.

In 2001, China Airlines said it would acquire a 25% stake in China Cargo, controlled by Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA), in order to tap into the cargo market in China.

'Negotiations with China Cargo Airlines are still in process,' said Roger Han, spokesman for Taiwan's largest air carrier.

However, China Airlines doesn't rule out other alternatives to expand its cargo business in China as 'cross-strait business is important for China Airlines,' Han said.

Han declined to comment when asked what has prevented the deal, approved by both the Taiwanese and Chinese governments, from materializing up to now.

On Saturday, the Economic Daily News said China Airlines may seek other partners for its cargo business.

The paper said misgivings by China Eastern are delaying the deal, without giving further specifics.

Taiwan May Tap Private Assoc For Talks On China Flights
14 June 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan Premier Frank Hsieh said the government may mandate a private airline association to hold talks with China on two-way cargo charter flights.

Speaking at a gathering with Taiwanese doing business in China Monday evening, Hsieh said he has asked the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to lay out the plan, and the Taipei Airlines Association to arrange talks with China.

The potential talks on cargo flights is one of a series of measures that Taipei will push in order to strengthen exchanges with China, said Hsieh, according to a statement from Taiwan's Government Information Office.

Taipei also hopes to soon hold talks with Beijing on allowing exports of the island's agricultural produce to China, said Hsieh.

Hsieh said the Taiwan External Trade Development Council will help the Council of Agriculture and the Mainland Affairs Council in cross-strait talks on agriculture exports.

In the statement, Hsieh said the Mainland Affairs Council and the transport ministry will be responsible for arranging talks with Beijing on the issue of allowing more tourists from China to visit the island. Taiwan started allowing tourists from China in 2002, but sets a limit on the number of travelers.

China: Willing To Discuss Cargo Flights With Taipei
15 June 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Wednesday it is willing to discuss with Taipei the prospect of having cargo charter flights between the two sides.

'This has been our long-standing stance,' said Li Weiyi, spokesman of the Chinese agency, said at a regular televised press conference.

Li's remark came a day after Taiwan said it may authorizea private airline association to hold talks with China on two-way cargo charter flights.

Taiwan Premier Frank Hsieh said Monday he has asked the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to lay out the plan, and may ask the Taipei Airlines Association to arrange talks with China.

The potential talks on cargo flights is one of a series of measures that Taipei will push in order to strengthen exchanges with China, said Hsieh, according to a statement from Taiwan's Government Information Office issued Tuesday.

Taipei also hopes to hold talks soon with Beijing on allowing exports of the island's agricultural produce to China, said Hsieh.

Hsieh said the Taiwan External Trade Development Council will help the Council of Agriculture and the Mainland Affairs Council in cross-strait talks on agriculture exports.

In the statement, Hsieh said the Mainland Affairs Council and the transport ministry will be responsible for arranging talks with Beijing on the issue of allowing more tourists from China to visit the island.

Taiwan started allowing tourists from China in 2002, but sets a limit on the number of travelers.

Ctrip and Taiwan's ezTravel Jointly Advance Travel Across the Taiwan Strait
Wednesday June 8, 5:00 am ET

SHANGHAI, China, June 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ctrip.com International, Ltd., a leading consolidator of hotel accommodations and airline tickets in China, today announced that it has established a strategic alliance relationship with ezTravel.com, Taiwan's leading travel service provider which provides both online and offline travel services. With this alliance, Ctrip can offer its customers various independent leisure packages to Taiwan and provide novel and comprehensive travel information about Taiwan through ezTravel.

James Liang, Chairman and CEO of Ctrip, said, "This collaboration brings new opportunities to travelers in mainland China and Taiwan, making important contributions to advancing travel across the Taiwan Strait. ezTravel's vast resources allow Ctrip to provide travelers with a variety of interesting leisure package choices for Taiwan tours."

"We are excited to gain access to the breadth and depth of Ctrip's product offerings and benefit from Ctrip's experience in the independent travel market in China," said Mr. Jinzhang You, General Manager of ezTravel. "We believe ezTravel's valuable expertise in the Taiwan travel market will allow Ctrip's customers to truly enjoy a first-rate travel experience in Taiwan."

About Ctrip.com International, Ltd.

Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading consolidator of hotel accommodations and airline tickets in China. Ctrip aggregates information on hotels and flights and enable customers to make informed and cost-effective hotel and flight bookings. Ctrip targets primarily business and leisure travelers in China who do not travel in group. These travelers form a traditionally under-served yet fast-growing segment of the China travel industry. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China.

Taipei's Sungshan Airport Not on Track for Direct China Links

TAIPEI, June 23 Asia Pulse - Despite a government plan to open Taiwan up to Chinese tourists, Taipei's Sung Shan Airport is not suitable for serving direct flights between Taiwan and China at present, a government official said Wednesday.

Lin Hsin-teh, deputy director-general of the Civil Aeronautics Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, made the remarks at a public hearing called by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung at the Legislative Yuan in which government officials, academicians and industry executives got together to discuss ways to develop Taipei's tourism.

Responding to Ting's proposal that Sung Shan Airport be allowed to service direct flights from Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport, Lin said that Chiang Kai-shek International Airport near Taipei and Kaohsiung International Airport in southern Taiwan are more suitable.

Sung Shan Airport is not being considered by the government at present, Lin said, adding however that the domestic airport could be a study case after conditions for direct links across the Taiwan Strait have become ripe.

Appointing an airport for cross-strait direct flights will mainly depend on the situation between Taiwan and China, he explained.

Hsia Chu-jeou, a professor at National Taiwan University, said that the government should open Taiwan to Chinese tourists as soon as possible and should designate Sung Shan Airport to ply direct links with Hongqiao Airport, to help inject economic momentum to both Taipei and Taiwan.

Taiwan Visitors Association Chairman Stanley Yen urged the government to hold substantive talks with China to ward off a possible negative impact of the opening.

Arguing that the government must not pass the responsibility of preventing the absconding en masse of some groups of Chinese tourists to tourist agents, Yen said it is the government's responsibility to negotiate with China on the issue and ask the Chinese side to take measures to stop any re-occurrences.

Nevertheless, Yen called for a standard practice in receiving Chinese tourists, pointing out that there must be no differences in treating visitors from China or elsewhere. This, he said, will help Chinese visitors gain a better understanding of Taiwan and improve Taiwan's international image.

A representative from the Travel Quality Assurance Association suggested that Taiwan hotels treat Chinese tourists fairly because poor treatment will seriously taint Taiwan's image.

(CNA)

Taiwan seeks access to China airspace to save fuel

TAIPEI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan will allow its airlines to seek permission from China to use its airspace to reduce flying time and cut soaring fuel costs, its premier said on Wednesday, a move hailed as a further sign of easing tensions.

Premier Frank Hsieh also renewed a call for talks with Beijing to start direct charter flights between Taiwan and mainland China, rivals since a civil war ended in 1949.

"We agree to discuss cargo and passenger charter flights as well as holiday or other special charters so we can make arrangements as soon as possible," Hsieh told a weekly cabinet meeting.

Taipei has previously said it wanted to talk about direct air cargo charters in the first stage.

China welcomed the call for new charter flight talks, the official Xinhua news agency said in a brief report, quoting an unnamed spokesman with the Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office.

"We have noticed the remarks of officials with the Taiwan authorities regarding the cross-Strait passenger and cargo charter flights. We welcome such remarks," the official said.

But there was no mention whether Taiwanese airlines would be permitted to use mainland air space.

Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as part of Chinese territory to be brought back to the fold, by force if necessary.

Taiwan has so far banned its carriers from flying over mainland China due to security concerns.

However, Taiwan's China Airlines and EVA Airways were permitted to fly through Chinese airspace during the U.S.-Iraq war in 2003 rather than through the Middle East because of safety considerations.

"Allowing Taiwan aircraft to fly through Chinese airspace without detours will help save flying time and costs and increase the competitiveness of the airline industry," Hsieh said.

Crude oil topped $62 a barrel on supply worries on Wednesday, testing record levels set earlier this week.

EVA Airways said using Chinese airspace could save up to T$200 million (US$6.3 million) in jet fuel costs a year and shorten flying time to Europe by at least one hour.

"We welcome the move," an EVA spokeswoman said.

The news gave a strong boost to airlines stocks. China Airlines shares advanced 4.02 percent to T$18.1 and EVA shares were up 4.65 percent at T$15.75, compared with a 1.77 percent rise for the benchmark index.

"The announcement fuels hopes for better relations ahead. We are encouraged by the possibility of how relations between the two sides will evolve in the future," said Collin Shih Cathay Securities Investment Consulting, pointing to direct air links.

Earlier this week, Premier Hsieh said that Taiwan was likely to expand direct shipping links between its offshore islands and China next month.

Despite often tense political ties, Taiwan investors are estimated to have poured over $100 billion into China since the late 1980s, lured by lower costs and a common language.

Businesses have clamoured for Taipei to allow full-blown air and shipping links to cut transportation costs. Currently, travellers and cargo must go through Hong Kong or a third country.

China and Taiwan exchanged special non-stop charter flights for the first time in over five decades during the Lunar New Year Festival in January and February, a move that many business people hoped would pave the way for permanent direct air links.

(Additional reporting by Judy Lin, and Ben Blanchard in Shanghai)

Taiwan's Mac Wants Cross-Strait Cargo Flights to Begin First

TAIPEI, Aug 4 Asia Pulse - The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday it looks forward to an early start to direct cargo charter flights across the Taiwan Strait.

"While we agree to simultaneous negotiations for opening direct cross-strait passenger, cargo and special-purpose charter flights, we want cargo charter flights to be opened first," said an MAC official who preferred anonymity.

The official made the remarks after Premier Frank Hsieh announced earlier in the day that the government has decided to lift the ban on Taiwan commercial aircraft flying over China's airspace and agreed to simultaneous negotiations for cross-strait cargo and passenger charter flights.

According to the council, the two major policy initiatives were adopted after extensive discussions with the National Security Council.

In addition to benefiting people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the official said, the two measures are also expected to convey a goodwill message to China and help improve cross-strait relations.

The decision to remove the decades-old flyover ban was made out of consideration of helping carriers cut costs amid the current upward spiral in international crude oil prices, the official said, adding that the flying times to South Asia, the Middle East and Europe will also be greatly reduced.

"If China approves our carriers' flyover applications, it will be a boon to both passengers and airline operators because the travel times and fuel costs will all be cut," the official said.

Industry sources said local carriers can each save an estimated NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) in fuel costs annually if they are allowed to fly over China's airspace.

As to the opening of cross-strait charter flights, Taiwan has expressed an interest in negotiating cargo charter flights, but China is only willing to negotiate the passenger charter flights issue. As a result, no progress has been made in this regard following the smooth conclusion of special Chinese New Year charter flights for Taiwan businessmen operating in China in late January and early February this year.

With a view to pushing for an early realization of cross-strait cargo charter flights to benefit the business community, the official said the government is now advocating simultaneous negotiations for cargo and passenger charter flights.

Hopefully, the official said, China will agree to this proposal so that intermediary bodies on both sides can enter into negotiations soon.

As China refuses for political reasons to engage in direct contact with the government on Taiwan, the MAC has commissioned the Taipei Airline Association to mediate charter flight negotiations.

The official explained that the change in the government's attitude was prompted partly by a recent step forward in talks regarding allowing Chinese citizens to visit Taiwan for sightseeing purposes.

"Once the two sides finally come to term to allow Chinese citizens to make sightseeing trips to Taiwan, there should be a market demand for cross-strait passenger charter flights," he noted.

(CNA)

Taiwan Lifts Ban on Aircraft Flying Over China's Airspace

TAIPEI, Aug 4 Asia Pulse - The government has decided to lift the ban on Taiwan commercial aircraft flying over China's airspace, Premier Frank Hsieh said Wednesday.

Taiwan carriers will now be allowed to fly over China's airspace to save fuel costs and reduce travel times, the premier said at a weekly Cabinet meeting.

"Hopefully, China can approve our air carriers' applications for flyovers as soon as possible," Hsieh said.

If China approves Taiwan carriers' applications, Hsieh said it will be a boon to both passengers and airline operators because the flying times from Taiwan to South Asia, the Middle East and Europe will be greatly reduced.

"The decision to remove the decades-old flyover ban was made out of consideration of helping carriers cut costs amid the current upward spiral in international crude oil prices," Hsieh said.

Meanwhile, Hsieh said the government has agreed to simultaneous negotiations for the opening of passenger, cargo and special-purpose charter flights across the Taiwan Strait.

As August is traditionally an export boom season, Hsieh said he has directed the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to speed up contacts and negotiations with China on the opening of cross-strait cargo charter flights.

China has insisted that issues regarding the opening of cross-strait passenger charter flights should be discussed simultaneously. After a careful review, Hsieh said, the government has agreed to China's proposal.

As China refuses for political reasons to engage in direct contact with Taiwan's government, the latter has commissioned the Taipei Airline Association to mediate charter flight negotiations.

Taiwan Drafts Rules on Overflights Through Chinese Airspace

TAIPEI, Aug 9 Asia Pulse - Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) completed Monday a draft of operational rules governing the overflights of Taiwan commercial aircraft through Chinese airspace and submitted it to the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council for approval.

The draft rules were prepared after Premier Frank Hsieh lifted a ban last week on Taiwan commercial aircraft overflying China's airspace in order to help the airlines reduce their fuel costs and travel time. Hsieh said the government will attempt to negotiate with the authorities in Beijing on the simultaneous opening of passenger, cargo and special-purpose charter flights across the Taiwan Strait.

An MOTC official said that after the Cabinet gives the nod to the draft, the Civil Aeronautics Administration will begin accepting flight route applications from Taiwan carriers. However, the official admitted that whether the new measure can become reality will depend on the attitude of the Chinese authorities.

China Airlines and EVA Airways -- Taiwan's two main carriers -- have been making plans to reroute their flights from Taipei to Paris, Frankfort, Hanoi and the Middle East to go through Chinese airspace. It is estimated that the new routes would allow the two airlines to save hundreds of millions of New Taiwan dollars in fuel costs each year and cut travel time for each trip by about one hour.

Tuesday August 16, 2:26 PM
Taiwan opens applications for flights over China's airspace

TAIPEI (AFP) - The Taiwan government says it is ready to accept applications from domestic airlines that wish to fly through China's airspace to save costs amid rising oil prices.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration said it would collect the applications even though China has not yet given permission for the use of its airspace, which has been off limits to Taiwan for 56 years.

Details would be finalized after discussions with China, an administration official said. The official could not however say when the talks would be held.

Taiwan's two leading airlines, China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways Corp, said they would apply to operate routes over China to destinations in Europe and Southeast Asia.

The leading CAL planned five passenger and five cargo routes over China, an official said. The government estimated that the airline could save some 260 million Taiwan dollars (8.13 million US) each year.

EVA planned three passenger and three cargo routes, which would save an estimated 150 million Taiwan dollars annually, company spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei said.

Under a ban Taiwan imposed on direct transport exchanges with China in 1949, when the two split after a civil war, the island's airlines have to take a detour to bypass Chinese airspace en route to Europe and parts of Asia.

The ban was relaxed in February when the rivals launched their first non-stop passenger flights during the Lunar New Year holidays, which see thousands of people travelling to visit relatives.

But Taipei suspended talks on more such flights after Beijing in March enacted a controversial anti-secession law providing a legal basis for an invasion of the island should it push for formal independence.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Officials said the need for Taiwanese commercial aircraft to be able to fly over the mainland had become urgent after sharp rises in international crude oil prices.

Taipei has also urged Beijing for talks aimed at opening up more direct charter flights between the two sides ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in September.

Taiwan airline's airspace request to be approved
Christopher Bodeen, AP
August 19, 2005

China said Thursday it will rush approval of applications by Taiwanese airlines to fly over Chinese airspace, potentially moving the sides closer to ending a 55-year break in direct air links.

"It will take some time [to process the applications] but related work will be completed very soon," civil aviation official Pu Zhaozhou was quoted as saying in an interview with the official China Daily.

However, Pu said talks were needed on specific routes requested by Taiwanese airlines, which in some cases differ from those now in use.

Pu's comments follow an August 3 announcement by Taiwan that it would allow its airlines to overfly China despite a ban by the island on direct flights between the sides that has been in place since 1949.

Reached at his office Thursday, Pu said he had no further comments on the issue.

Taiwanese airlines now avoid Chinese air space on flights to Europe, South Asia and the Middle East by passing either north over Russia or south over Southeast Asia.

Taiwan's two main international airlines, flag carrier China Airlines and EVA Airways, have argued rising fuel costs were adding to the extra expense of the roundabout routes. Flying directly across the Taiwan Strait and over China offers a much more direct route to Europe, where CAL services eight destinations and EVA six.

EVA has estimated it could save at least NT$150 million (HK$36.3 million) per year on fuel by flying over China. Chinese officials also claim flying over China could cut flying time from Taiwan to Europe by up to two hours.

Overflying China would mark a further step toward opening up direct links between the sides. China has on at least two occasions in 2002 and 2003 opened its airspace to Taiwanese airlines, citing air safety concerns related to US military action in Iraq.

Pu, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's office of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, was quoted as saying China's "policy of welcoming Taiwanese airlines to fly over mainland airspace remains unchanged."

Although China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, refuses to recognize or deal directly with Taiwan's government, the island's Premier, Frank Hsieh, has authorized a local private airline association to talk to rival China about the resumption of passenger and cargo charter flights.

Taiwan's largest airline gets China's approval to use its airspace
2 September 2005
Associated Press Newswires

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's largest airline said Friday it will become the island's first airline to fly through rival China's airspace in more than five decades.

Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd. said Beijing has approved its application to use the mainland's airspace, a month after Taiwanese Premier Frank Hsieh said he would allow the island's airlines to fly over Chinese territory.

The first Taiwanese flight to cross China's skies will be a cargo run on Monday from Taiwan's capital, Taipei, to Vienna via Abu Dhabi, China Airlines said.

The first passenger flight will fly from Taipei to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, also on Monday.

China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun said the airline expects to fly a total of 52 flights, including both cargo and passenger flights, over China's airspace each week.

Taiwanese airlines have long avoided Chinese airspace on flights to Europe and South Asia by flying either north over Russia or south over Southeast Asia.

Direct Taiwan-China air links were suspended in 1949 when the two sides split amid civil war. Communist Beijing has repeatedly threatened war if democratic, self-governing Taiwan moves toward making its de facto independence formal and permanent.

Taiwan has resisted China's repeated invitations to reopen the air corridor across the 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile-wide) strait between the island and the mainland, citing national security reasons based on China's threats.

China Airlines has said flying over China can save the airline about 200 million New Taiwan dollars (US$6.14 million; euro4.9 million) in fuel costs each year.

Monday September 5, 10:29 PM
Taiwan Airline to Buy China Carrier Stake

AP - China Airlines Ltd., Taiwan's largest airline, said Monday it will join with two shipping companies to buy a combined 37 percent stake in mainland Chinese air cargo carrier Yangtze River Express Airlines Co.

The deal marks China Airlines' latest effort to tap into the mainland's rapidly growing cargo market, after it failed to close a deal to buy a 25 percent stake in another Chinese cargo airline after four years of negotiations.

The plan still needs the approval of the governments of Taiwan and China.

A tie-up with a Chinese carrier is the only way China Airlines can enter the China market, as China and Taiwan _ which split amid civil war in 1949 _ have never agreed on the establishment of regular direct transport links.

Despite political tensions, Taiwan and China have close commercial relations. Taiwanese companies have invested more than $100 billion in the mainland since the early 1990s and trade between the sides now exceeds $60 billion annually.

The Taiwanese airline said Monday it plans to pay $39 million for a 25 percent stake in Yangtze River Express, a wholly owned unit of China's Hainan Airlines Group.

"We want to get a share in China's expanding cargo market," said China Airlines Spokesman Johnson Sun.

In separate filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. said they will each pay $9.4 million for 6 percent of Yangtze River.

Taiwan's Economic Daily News reported Monday the three Taiwanese firms will join hands with Cargolux Airlines International S.A. of Luxembourg to buy a combined 49 percent stake in Yangtze River.

China Airlines' Sun declined to comment on Cargolux's involvement; Cargolux's Director of Communications Marc Schonckert wasn't immediately available for comment.

Taiwan's EVA Airways plans cargo joint venture with China's Shanghai Airlines
13 September 2005

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's second-largest airline, EVA Airways Corp., said Tuesday it wants to set up a cargo joint venture with China's Shanghai Airlines.

EVA spokesman K.W. Nieh said the two want to sign an agreement before the end of the year but are still discussing the capital of the new company, tentatively to be called Shanghai Airlines Cargo Co.

The Taiwanese airline aims to expand its cargo operations in the Chinese market by capitalizing on Shanghai Airlines' mainland routes, as domestic air cargo volume shrinks, Nieh said.

"We have been cooperating with them in air cargo for over two years, using Macau as a transfer point for cargo shipments from Shanghai's Pudong Airport," Nieh said.

The joint venture, to be registered in China, would allow EVA to carry even more goods from China, maybe also from Hong Kong, to Taiwan, and from Taiwan to the U.S., the EVA spokesman said.

EVA plans to team up with another, possibly Taiwanese, company to invest in the venture, Nieh said, without elaborating.

Nieh said that under Chinese law, a foreign company isn't allowed to own more than 25 percent of a Chinese company, while total foreign ownership of a Chinese company is capped at 49 percent.

"The second shareholder will be decided by Shanghai Airlines, which will hold at least 51 percent of the new company," Nieh said.

Yuanta Core Pacific Securities analyst Brandon Chen said the need for the Taiwanese and Chinese governments to approve a deal could delay the venture to early next year.

Regular direct transport links haven't existed between Taiwan and China since they split amid civil war in 1949. Passengers and cargo have to be routed through a third point, usually Hong Kong.

Nieh said EVA will seek approval for the joint venture from the island's Investment Commission after it signs a deal with Shanghai Airlines.

Last week, China Airlines Ltd., Taiwan's largest carrier, said it plans to acquire 25 percent of Yangtze River Express Airlines Co. with Taiwan's two major shipping companies.

Taiwan's air cargo volume is expected to shrink 10 percent in 2005, Nieh said, and EVA's share of Taiwan's total cargo volume is expected to drop to less than 20 percent in 2005 from 30 percent two years ago.

Taiwan's exports have been shrinking as Taiwanese manufacturers relocate their production lines to China, he said.

"In terms of market share, the deal will certainly be a good thing for EVA," said Yuanta's Chen.

Taiwan flies into air cargo quandary
The growth of mainland facilities threatens the island's business - unless carriers can find a foothold in China, reports Kathrin Hille.
13 September 2005
Financial Times

A plan by Taiwan's China Airlines to buy into Yangtze River Express, a small mainland air cargo services provider, will hardly get investors excited.

But the fact that the company is bothering to pursue the Rmb312.5m (Dollars 38.6m) deal throws a spotlight on the plight of Taiwan's transportation sector. China's booming air cargo market is transforming Shanghai into one of the region's biggest hubs, and Taipei's ban on direct cross-strait flights is depriving its airlines of a slice of the pie.

"Taiwan's airports are being marginalised, and a large part of our freight forwarding, trucking, warehousing and logistics industry is going to die," wars Amy Ling, an air cargo expert at the China Institute of Technology in Hsinchu.

Since China retains a threat of military force against Taiwan should the island formalise its de factoindependence, Taipei allows its airlines neither to fly into nor operate out of China.

State-controlled China Airlines and Eva Airways, its smaller rival, have still managed to grow into strong players in the air cargo market. Both ranked among the world's 10 largest cargo airlines last year. But since China started to tackle transport bottlenecks by liberalising its air cargo market, growth has moved to the one place they cannot go. Since 2003, Beijing has handed out more than 200 so-called Fifth Freedom slots, which allow international airlines to pick up cargo in China and fly it to third countries.

This has resulted in a rapid rise of Shanghai's air cargo throughput, which surpassed that of Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport this year. Morgan Stanley estimates Shanghai will become Asia's largest air cargo hub within three years.

Industry representatives and analysts warn that Taipei's ban, which makes its airlines the only ones that cannot apply for such slots, will destroy the island's transportation industry. "What are we going to do with all our aircraft?" asks Nieh Kuo-wei, vice-president at Eva Airways.

In the past, Taiwanese companies, the mainland's second-largest source of foreign direct investment, were willing to send products made in China for the US market through Taiwan, he says. Eva and China Airlines pick up such cargo from Chinese carriers in Macao or Hong Kong. "This takes one more day, but it used to be competitive because in Shanghai you would queue four or five days," says Mr Nieh. "But now, with all that additional international capacity right out of Shanghai, there is less incentive for this detour."

Taiwanese electronics manufacturers, whose products make up the lion's share of what China Airlines and Eva fly through Taiwan to the US, are moving ever-larger parts of their operations to China, decreasing the need for final assembly on the island. In the first seven months of this year, international air cargo throughput at CKS airport dropped for the first time in many years.

Taiwan's transport industry sees deals such as the planned CAL investment as the only way to soften the blow. "Teaming up with mainland carriers still poses a chance for us because they need us to build capacity, networks and know-how," says Mr Nieh.

Eva picks up US-bound cargo in Macao from Shanghai Air, which operates the mainland leg. That helps the Taiwanese airline keep some of its customers but does not generate large profits. It hopes to conclude talks to invest in the Chinese company or set up a joint venture by the end of the year.

Observers voice doubts over the benefits of such deals. "China knows how badly they need a partner on the mainland," said Ms Ling. "So it will be very hard for CAL or Eva to get good conditions and management control." The only way out would be direct flights. Taipei proposes to allow one wcargo flight a day during a one-year trial period.

Such links could divert as much as 300,000 tonnes of US-bound cargo from Shanghai to Taipei and increase Eva's operating profit by more than 50 per cent, estimates Morgan Stanley.

Even government officials admit that the administration has to act fast. "Without direct links to China, it will be very difficult to keep our competitiveness," says Tsuo Heng, a senior official at the economic planning agency.

Beijing favours cross-strait flights on every holiday
Regular service is ultimate target, Taiwan's James Soong told
Lillian Yang and Bill Savadove in Shanghai
16 September 2005
South China Morning Post

The mainland hopes to have chartered flights across the Taiwan Strait during all holidays, starting next year, with an eye towards establishing regular direct flights, a senior official said yesterday.

Jia Qinglin , a Politburo Standing Committee member and deputy head of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, delivered the message at a forum in Shanghai attended by Taiwanese opposition figure James Soong Chu-yu.

"Based on the experience of charter flights during the last Lunar New Year, we hope to make cross-strait flights direct, round-trip and completely open from next year. The mainland is ready to do it," said Mr Jia, who is also chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Taiwan and the mainland offered charter flights over the Lunar New Year in February, although planes still had to pass through the airspace of a third region, such as Hong Kong.

Mr Jia also used the forum, sponsored by the Communist Party and Mr Soong's People First Party, to criticise Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favours independence.

"Taiwanese authorities still have not given up the stance of becoming independent and are loudly advocating it. Separatist action is a practical threat, which does harm to Taiwan's economy and people's interests," he said.

Mr Jia called for flights to be extended to more cities and to include cargo transport. He urged non-governmental industry associations to promote the plan. The last round of charter flights linked Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with Taipei and Kaohsiung.

He also proposed the two sides explore more opportunities in the financial sector as well as increase co-operation on agriculture.

Mr Soong proposed that the first direct flights be between Taipei and Shanghai because of heavy passenger and cargo traffic. "It would benefit 500,000 Taiwanese businesspeople and reduce their travel costs," he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Shanghai Airlines chairman and chief executive Zhou Chi said regular flights were the ultimate goal. "Temporary and short-term charter flights are actually more difficult to arrange. We want long-term co-operation and regular schedules."

Mr Soong said future ties should focus on economics and not the potential military threat from the mainland. Beijing has threatened to use military force against Taiwan if the island moves towards independence. The PFP chairman recently opposed a US$11 billion budget proposed by the Taiwanese government for purchases of arms from the United States.

TAIWAN'S MAC DENIES REPORTS ON CROSS-STRAIT CHARTER FLIGHTS

TAIPEI, Sept 19 Asia Pulse - The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) denied Friday reports that negotiations on charter cargo and passenger flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have come to fruition.

The reports are untrue, the MAC said in a press release.

According to the reports, Michael Lo, former head of the Taipei Airline Association (TAA) , traveled to Hong Kong several times to negotiate with Chinese representatives on the charter cargo and passenger flights, and that the government will soon announce their launch.

Cross-strait charter cargo flights will be launched first and three months later, the charter passenger flights will start, the reports claimed.

The MAC reaffirmed that it has commissioned the TAA to help the communications between the two sides on the matter and has taken into consideration China's stance, as well as the positive exchanges between the two sides.

Since the announcement by Premier Frank Hsieh Aug. 3 that discussions on both charter cargo and passenger flights can be conducted simultaneously, Taiwan has been communicating with China, the press release said.

The MAC stressed that if there are any substantive results from bilateral talks, it will inform the public immediately and it urged the media not to print mere speculation as real news.

China, Taiwan Opposition Party Agree On Direct Flights
20 October 2005

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China's central government Thursday reached an agreement with a delegation from Taiwan's largest opposition party on allowing direct flights across the Taiwan Strait.

Flights should be based on the model of charter flights during the 2005 Chinese Lunar New Year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Thursday. That indicates passenger and cargo flights between China and Taiwan would still be required to fly through Hong Kong or Macau.

Passenger flights across the strait should be carried out during holidays, festivals, and weekends, the report said, citing the agreement.

China's government and Taiwan's Kuomintang Party, or Nationalist Party, also said they will try and push the realization of charter flights during the 2006 Lunar New Year holiday, which starts Jan. 29.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province. The island has been ruled separately since 1949. China and Taiwan allowed the first chartered passenger flights between the two sides in more than 50 years in 2003, when flights were scheduled for the Chinese New Year holiday in that year.

Taiwan's China Air gives up China Eastern stake plan

TAIPEI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd. has given up on a plan to acquire a $47 million stake in the cargo unit of China Eastern Airlines , saying both sides failed to reach a consensus, a company executive said. China Airlines had sought the stake as part of an attempt to get a foothold in China's massive air freight market, where they are at a disadvantage to other international carriers due to a ban on direct air links with Taiwan, an island China claims as part of its territory.

"This investment case was sent for approval two years ago and there was set time limit in which a deal must be reached, but no consensus could be reached on conditions sought by each side, and the agreement was void," an executive at China Air said by phone. The executive said the $47 million had been redeemed and that the cancelled investment would not affect plans to continue pursuing opportunities in China.

Beijing regards the island as a renegade province, which has been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier, is also planning to invest 312.5 million yuan ($38.6 million ) for a 25 percent stake in Yangtze River Express, owned by Hainan Airlines Co. Ltd. .

Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd are also seeking stakes in the freight unit. The case is still pending approval by the government.

China Airlines' shares closed up 0.69 percent on Wednesday at T$14.55, versus a 1.24 percent rise on the broader index . (US$=T$33.6)

China invites Taiwan for talks on more direct flights

TAIPEI, Nov 3 (AFP) - China has invited Taiwan to discuss the provision of further cross-strait charter flights for the Chinese New Year holidays early next year, an airline official said Thursday.

"Yes, we have received an invitation from the mainland but an official response may have to be determined by government authorities," said the staffer in the office of Tony Fan, who is chairman of TransAsia Airways.

The staffer said the invitation was addressed to Fan in his capacity as chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association. It was from Pu Zhaozhou, vice chairman of China's Cross-Strait Aviation Transport Exchange Council.

Officials at the Mainland Affairs Council, the island's decision-making body on China policy, were not immediately available for comment.

Taiwan imposed a ban on direct transport exchanges with China in 1949, when the two split after a civil war. The island's airlines must take a detour to bypass Chinese airspace en route to Europe and parts of Asia.

The ban was relaxed in 2003 when six Taiwan airlines operated eight charter flights to and from China, via Hong Kong and Macau, during the Chinese New Year holidays.

The flights were not available in 2004 due to strained ties between Taipei and Beijing.

The ban was further relaxed in February this year when the rivals launched their first non-stop passenger flights during the New Year holidays, which see thousands of people travelling to visit relatives.

But Taipei suspended talks on more such flights after Beijing in March enacted a controversial anti-secession law, providing a legal basis for an invasion of Taiwan should it push for formal independence.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Taiwan agrees to Chinese talks on more charter flights

TAIPEI, Nov 4 (AFP) - Taiwan said Friday it had agreed in principle to negotiate with China on allowing more cross-strait charter air services including the exchange of non-stop flights on lunar new year holidays early next year.

"Pushing for more charter passenger and cargo services between the two sides has been our government's policy," said David Huang, vice chairman of the cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

MAC, Taiwan's top mainland policy maker, had authorized Taipei Airlines Association (TAA) as a "contact window" for related discussions with Beijing but no concrete agreement had been finalized, he said.

China's Cross-Strait Aviation Transport Exchange Council Thursday invited the TAA to discuss the provision of charter flights for the Chinese new year holidays in January and February next year.

"There should be no problems (for such holiday charter flights in 2006) if the 2005 model is followed," Huang added.

He stressed the two sides should follow the principles of "setting aside political differences with no pre-conditions" adopted at the bilateral talks in Macau which resulted in the exchange of unprecedented of non-stop passenger charter flights during Chinese New Year holidays in February.

Taiwan imposed a ban on direct transport exchanges with China in 1949, when the two split after a civil war. The island's airlines must take a detour to bypass Chinese airspace en route to Europe and parts of Asia.

The ban was relaxed in 2003 when six Taiwan airlines operated eight charter flights to and from China, with stops in Hong Kong and Macau, during the Chinese New Year holidays.

But Taipei suspended talks on further flights after Beijing in March enacted a controversial anti-secession law, providing a legal basis for an invasion of Taiwan should it push for formal independence.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Cross-strait flight eligibility relaxed
19 November 2005
South China Morning Post

The mainland and Taiwan have agreed to allow 72 charter flights to fly between four mainland cities and two Taiwanese cities during the next Lunar New Year holiday, mainland officials say.

Xiamen would be a new mainland destination for the charter flights in addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said Pu Zhaozhou , director of the Taiwan affairs department of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China and deputy director of the mainland's Cross-Strait Aviation Transport Exchange Council.

Taipei and Kaohsiung will remain the two destinations for cross-strait flights in Taiwan.

Mr Pu said the charter flights would be operated by 12 airlines - six each from the mainland and Taiwan - between January 20 and February 13.

Apart from Taiwanese businesspeople and their families, all Taiwanese residents with valid travel documents would be allowed to take the flights, he said.

The flights would still have to be routed via Hong Kong.

He Shizhong, chief of the Department of Economy of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the arrangement was still a far cry from direct aviation links the mainland has proposed.

"It is only a case-by-case arrangement. Mainland residents with valid documents are still excluded. The destinations are limited while the route is still via Hong Kong. It is still not the real direct flight," he said.

Liu Te-hsun, vice-chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, expressed regret that the two sides had failed to reach an agreement on cargo charters, but stressed the Taipei Airlines Association (TAA) would continue to discuss the issue with its mainland counterpart, the Chinese Aviation Association.

He said the two sides had been negotiating since August 12.

Taiwanese airline companies and mainland-based Taiwanese businesspeople yesterday applauded the new measure, recalling that this year's Lunar New Year charters were limited to businesspeople and their families.

"It is a breakthrough compared with the last service since all Taiwanese nationals can take the charter flights," said Chang Han-wen, head of the Taiwan Businessmen's Association based in Dongguan .

Taiwanese studying on the mainland said they hoped the departure points could be extended to more than four mainland cities.

TAA chairman Fan Chih-chiang, authorised by the Mainland Affairs Council to talk to Beijing officials, said the new arrangement should help boost airlines companies' bottom lines.

He said the two sides would be able to discuss an extension of departure points during the talks on cargo charters.

Six Airlines Divide up Lunar Year Cross-Strait Charter Flights

TAIPEI, Nov. 24 Asia Pulse - Six airline companies reached preliminary agreement Wednesday on the allocation of cross-strait charter flights for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, with high ticket costs forecast due to soaring oil prices.

According to a scheme simultaneously announced both by the Mainland Affair Council of Taiwan and the Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office last week, the charter flights will operate between Jan. 20 and Feb. 13 and will be similar to the formula adopted during the 2005 Chinese Lunar New Year period.

The 2006 Chinese New Year's Day falls on Jan. 29.

Airline companies declined to comment on their ticket prices, but they mentioned that oil was US$42 a barrel at the beginning of 2005, but has soared to US$58 a barrel; therefore, prices are almost certainly to be higher for the upcoming flights.

Among the four destinations by Taiwan airlines to China, 16 out of 36 flights will land in Shanghai, the most popular destination.

Xiamen comes the second-most popular destination with 10 flights, while six will go to Guangzhou and four to Beijing.

The allocation of destinations for each airline company is as follows:

- China Airlines: four flights to Shanghai, two to Beijing.

- EVA Air: two flights to Beijing, two to Shanghai and two to Guangzhou.

- Far Eastern Air Transport: four to Shanghai, two to Xiamen.

- UniAir: four to Xiamen, two to Shanghai.

- Mandarin Airlines: two to Shanghai, two to Guangzhou and two to Xiamen.

- TransAsia Airways: two to Shanghai, two to Guangzhou and two to Xiamen.

Only six flights will take off from Kaohsiung: UniAir's two flights to Xiamen, two others to Shanghai and two Mandarin Airlines flights to Xiamen. The others all depart from CKS International Airport.

The airline companies said that their schedules will be decided according to the needs of the passengers and that a flight schedule will be announced on Friday, Nov. 25.

Taiwan Airlines Can Apply This Wk For Charter Flights- PM
27 November 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan's airlines can begin applying this week for special charter flights to China during next year's Lunar New Year holidays, Premier Frank Hsieh said over the weekend.

Hsieh made the statement during a visit to the division under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications that is responsible for handling the applications.

An official at the ministry said Monday instructions on how to apply would be disclosed later in the day at the earliest.

All of Taiwan's six airlines will participate in the special flights, according to a government statement given to the press Saturday.

Taiwan opposition leader calls for China transport links

TAIPEI, Dec 7 (AFP) - Taiwan's opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou called Wednesday on the government to set up direct transport links with China to sustain economic growth.

Taiwan has banned direct links since splitting from China in 1949, fearing an attack. The mainland regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunited by force if necessary.

"Travelling between Taipei and Shanghai should take only 70 minutes if there were direct aviation links," said Ma, a presidential hopeful who led his Kuomintang party (KMT, or Nationalist) to a landslide win in last week's local polls.

"But now it takes visitors six to seven hours to travel between the two sides of the strait. As if the distance from Shanghai to Taipei were that of Shanghai to Jakarta. It's a tremendous waste of time."

The first non-stop direct flights over the Taiwan Strait since 1949 were carried out early this year to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

"Direct air links is a must to Taiwan being an industrial technological hub in East Asia ... when the Chinese mainland has become a factory of the world," Ma told Taipei Foreign Correspondents Club.

Despite lingering hostility between the two rivals, China has emerged as Taiwan's leading foreign investment destination, with an estimated 80 billion dollars invested over the years in various projects.

Taipei and Beijing announced on November 18 they had reached agreement on charter flights for the next Lunar New Year holiday from January 20 to February 13.

The 72 charter flights will be non-stop but will have to fly via Hong Kong airspace.

Each year millions of visits are conducted between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland which are separated by the Taiwan Strait measuring 100 miles at its widest.

Taiwan's China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines expand mileage cooperation
7 December 2005
AFX Asia

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - China Airlines (2610.TW) and the mainland's China Eastern Airlines said they will expand cooperation on their mileage programs to include all scheduled flights from Jan 1.

The Taiwan carrier said in a statement frequent flyer members flying with one of the airlines in the future will have the choice of accumulating mileage under either frequent flyer program.

China Airlines and China Eastern Airlines began their mileage program cooperation in Sept 2004. Initially, all China Airlines international flights and China Eastern's Hong Kong-Shanghai and Okinawa-Shanghai flights were eligible for this cooperation program.

The cooperation expansion is expected to benefit about 7.0 mln frequent flyer members who will be able to accumulate mileage faster in exchange for free tickets and free upgrades.

Currently, China Airlines has mileage program cooperation with three major aviation groups in China, namely Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.

At 10.49 am, China Airlines was unchanged at 15.65 twd.

Taiwan Govt: UNI Air Applies For China Charter Flights
6 December 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--The Taiwan government has so far received one application for charter flights between Taiwan and China during the Lunar New Year period in 2006, an official at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be named, said the application was from UNI Airways Corp., one of Taiwan's smaller airlines that operates services on regional routes.

The government issued guidelines Friday for airlines to apply for the charter flights, the official said.

The deadline for applications is Jan. 10, according to a copy of the guidelines seen by Dow Jones Newswires.

Six Taiwanese airlines and six mainland Chinese airlines have been allowed to provide a total of 72 round-trip charter flights between Jan. 20 and Feb. 13 under an agreement worked out by the two sides' civil aviation associations late last month.

Under a preliminary arrangement between the Taiwanese airlines and the ministry, UNI plans to provide two flights to Guangzhou, two to Shanghai and two to Xiamen during the Lunar New Year period, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said in a statement.

China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW), Taiwan's largest airline by revenue, and its closest rival, EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW), can each operate two charter flights to Beijing. China Airlines can also operate four flights to Shanghai, and EVA can provide two to Shanghai and two to Guangzhou.

It will be the third time Taiwan and China have allowed special charter flights for the Lunar New Year, the most important annual festival for Chinese communities.

On this occasion, any Taiwanese resident will be allowed to use the service, instead of just investors doing business in China or their relatives.

Three more Taiwanese airlines apply for holiday charter flights between Taiwan and China
13 December 2005

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - The Taiwanese government has received additional applications from local airlines to operate charter flights between Taiwan and China during the Lunar New Year period in 2006, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Tuesday.

The island's largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd., EVA Airways Corp. and Mandarin Airlines Ltd. applied to operate the charter flights, the ministry said in a statement.

UNI Airways Corp., an affiliate of EVA, put in an application last week.

Direct air links between China and Taiwan ended when the two sides split more than five decades ago, but both sides allowed charter flights in 2003 and 2005 for Taiwanese businesspeople in China wishing to return home for the Lunar New Year. For the next holiday, Taiwanese students and tourists will also be allowed to take the flights.

Taiwan opposes regular commercial flights, ostensibly for security reasons. China still claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island, and threatens to use force should Taipei move toward formal independence.

However, trade has thrived despite the political strains. Business leaders have been lobbying hard for direct flights, saying they would save time and money.

Six Taiwanese airlines and six airlines from China have been allowed to provide a total of 72 round-trip charter flights between Jan. 20 and Feb. 13 under an agreement worked out by civil aviation associations from the two sides.

The flights will link Taipei and Kaohsiung on the island with the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Xiamen, which all have large populations of Taiwanese business executives.

The two other Taiwanese airlines that are also expected to apply to operate services are Transasia Airways Corp. and Far Eastern Air Transport Corp.

The deadline for applications is Jan. 10, according to guidelines published by the ministry.

Under current arrangements, China Airlines and EVA Airways can each operate two round trips to Beijing from Taipei.

China Airlines can operate four round trips on the Taipei-Shanghai route, and EVA two round trips.

Tuesday December 13, 11:30 AM
China-Taiwan flights to feature Hello Kitty

(Kyodo) An Eva Airways plane with giant Hello Kitty images painted on its body will fly a normally forbidden direct route to China for the Lunar New Year, a spokesman for the Taiwan-based airline said Tuesday.

An Airbus 330-220 will land in Beijing on the afternoon of Jan. 27 with seven Hello Kitty caricatures on the cabin, one on the engine and more inside the aircraft, said company spokesman Liang Wenrong in Beijing.

Flight attendants wear Sanrio-style attire and serve meals with hints of Hello Kitty, the company spokesman said. Boarding passes and luggage tags also will carry the Japanese cartoon images, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday.

"We want to come to Beijing in a special way, nothing too boring," Liang said. "It's a kind of promotion."

In October Eva Airways signed an advertising contract with Sanrio Co., he said. The airline said in a statement that Hello Kitty promotes "creativity" and "innovation" in the company.

The cat-festooned plane began daily Taipei-Fukuoka flights in late October, the statement says. Liang said the plane also flies from Taipei to Tokyo.

The Eva Airways flight is one of 36 from Taiwan due to touch down in four Chinese cities during the Jan. 20-Feb. 13 Lunar New Year period next year. Chinese airlines will also send 36 flights.

For the second straight year, China and the self-ruled island that China sees as part of its territory agreed to exchange direct flights without security stops to help mainland-based Taiwan business people return home.

Direct flights are normally prohibited as political tensions remain high.

Mainland well prepared for cross-Strait charter flights: spokesman
14 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, December 14 (CEIS) -- Airlines on China's mainland will provide the country's best aircraft to serve passengers flying to and from Taiwan during the upcoming Spring Festival, said a senior Chinese official here on December 14.

Detailed service plans are being made to provide warm and considerate service to Taiwan passengers on the charter flights, said Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council at his regularly scheduled news conference.

Authorities have approved six mainland airlines to provide charter flights during the 2006 lunar new year. Four Taiwan-based airlines have been granted the right to fly to the mainland during the busiest travel season in Asia, he said.

The best aircraft and crews will serve passengers and ticket reservations have been made more convenient. Special boarding services and emergency plans have also been prepared.

The mainland hopes the flights to Taiwan for passengers and freight will following the model of the 2005 Spring Festival charter flights, said Li.

The special Spring Festival charter flights between Taiwan and the Chinese are scheduled from Jan. 20 to Feb. 13 next year.

Along with Taiwan business people and their families, Taiwan residents holding appropriate travel documents will be allowed to take the flights. These conditions are part of an agreement reached by the civil aviation associations in Taiwan and the mainland.

In all there will be 72 round trip flights between Taiwan and the mainland with airlines in each region providing half the flights.

Flights to the mainland will land in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and for the first time Xiamen. The charter flights will also service Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Taiwan Aims For Cargo Talks With China After Lunar New Yr
14 December 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan hopes to have talks with China on air cargo charter services after the Lunar New Year holiday, the island's top mainland policymaker said Thursday.

The comment by Joseph Wu, the chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, came as the two sides prepare for passenger charter flights during the Lunar New Year holiday.

In Taiwan, the Chinese New Year holiday runs from Jan. 28 through Feb. 2.

'We hope the (political) atmosphere after passenger charter flights during the Chinese New Year will be more conducive for talks,' Wu said.

國航兩岸包機改用奧運號
12月 10日 星期六 11:25 更新
明報

中國國際航空公司為了避免機身上五星紅旗引起爭議，改用北京奧運彩繪飛機執行兩岸春節包機任務。

台灣中央社稱，國航作為2008年北京奧運的贊助商，改租子公司數架彩繪奧運圖案的飛機。屆時會向乘客贈送奧運吉祥物、奧運紀念品等小禮物。之前，國航數次否認改用奧運號執行春節包機。

《北京晨報》報道，春節包機首班機將於2006年1月25日上午9時發出，是中國大陸最早的一班兩岸包機。至於收費方面，國航從北京起飛至台北的經濟艙單程價為3100元，往返價為4800元，兩者都含各種稅費，05年的機票平均價低於3000元。

Taiwan Pilots Join Mainland Airline
By Huang Zhiling
21 December 2005
China Daily

CHENGDU: An Airbus A321 landing in the Capital International Airport in Beijing made history yesterday morning.

The flight from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, contained a pilot from Taiwan, Zhang Lu-zhen, who was among a small group from the island province that started work yesterday.

Sichuan Airlines, which is employing the group of eight, is the first on the mainland to enrol pilots from the island

province, Gu Bing, deputy chief of the Publicity Department of Sichuan Airlines, told China Daily.

Of the eight pilots, who have signed contracts of three to six years, five have passed tests and received temporary flying licences from the Southwest Branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). They are now applying for formal

licences from the CAAC, which normally takes about two weeks.

A temporary licence is valid for four months. The other three pilots are going through formalities to apply for their temporary licences.

The five pilots who have been granted temporary licences are all about 40 years old, each with more than 15 years experience, notching up flight hours ranging from 5,000 to 10,000.

The mainland, which has the world's fastest growing aviation market, has a strong pull for pilots in Taiwan, according to Yan Jun, former chief of the Taiwan Civil Aviation Pilots Association.

A survey conducted by the organization revealed nearly all of those questioned expressed a willingness to work on the mainland, he said.

Taiwan Official: China Air Links Vote Not Ruled Out
6 January 2006

Dow Jones - Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party, has repeatedly said the public is divided on whether they are in favor of direct air links with China.

Taiwan and China split in a civil war in 1949 and have had no official contacts since then, despite their growing trade activity.

Wu said in a press conference Friday that negotiations between the governments on both sides would also be needed for normalized cross-strait air links.

'Direct links won't happen just because we want them,' Wu said. 'If (the Chinese government) doesn't want to talk, there will be no direct links.'

Although Taiwan bans direct transport links with China, it allowed direct charter flights to and from China for Taiwanese businessmen and their relatives during the 2003 and 2005 Chinese New Year holidays.

The two sides also agreed to allow direct charter flights for all Taiwanese, for the first time, during the coming New Year holiday between Jan. 20 and Feb. 13.

Under an agreement reached between the two sides Nov. 18, six Taiwanese airlines and six mainland Chinese airlines are allowed to provide a total of 72 round-trip charter flights between Taiwan and China during the holiday.

As in 2003 and 2005, however, the charter flights are required to fly through Hong Kong's air space.

Mainland official calls for regular cross-Straits chartered flights
6 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 6 (CEIS) -- A Chinese mainland official on January 6 called for regular chartered flights and direct flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference that it is very difficult to get tickets of the cross-Straits chartered flights during the forthcoming Spring Festival.

The demand from Taiwan compatriots living in the mainland cannot be met. Regular chartered flights and direct flights should be realized to offer convenience for Taiwan compatriots in the mainland, Li said.

He said the mainland will provide good services for the Spring Festival chartered flights, and push forward the realization of regular chartered flights and direct flights.

Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important occasion for family reunions. The Spring Festival in 2006 will start on Jan. 29.

Six mainland airline companies have been chosen to operate chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits from Jan. 20 to Feb. 13 of 2006, while six Taiwan-based airlines have announced their plans for direct chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits during the Spring Festival.

Taiwan's China Air Completes 25% Buy Of Yangtze River
12 January 2006

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW) completed its acquisition of a 25% stake in Chinese regional air cargo carrier, Yangtze River Express Airlines, the company said in a statement Thursday.

China Airlines, Taiwan's largest airline by revenue, didn't provide the transaction's value in the statement, but in a previous filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the deal was valued at CNY312.5 million (US$38.7 million).

Two Taiwan shipping companies, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. (2609.TW) and Wan Hai Lines (2615.TW), joined China Airlines in the deal.

Yang Ming Marine secured a 12% stake and Wan Hai Lines bought 6%.

Liberia-registered China Container Express Lines also bought a 6% stake, according to the statement, raising the total stake acquired in the Shanghai-based cargo carrier to 49%.

Through the deal, China Airlines aims to secure revenue from China's rapidly expanding air cargo market, projected by Boeing Co. (BA) to grow at an annual rate of 10% in the next 20 years.

"Eastern China is a major source of this cargo growth, and Shanghai, as the region's gateway, accounts for 45% of China's air cargo traffic," China Airlines said.

KGI Securities analyst Marc Wang said in December that securing 5% of eastern China's cargo market would increase an airline's annual revenue by NT$8 billion.

China Airlines' revenue in 2005 was NT$108.69 billion.

CHINA WATCH: Taiwan Airlines Awaiting The Missing Link
15 January 2006
By Alex Pevzner
A Dow Jones Newswires Column

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Flying nonstop direct to China for a few weeks a year may not seem like a big deal, but for Taiwan's airlines, they hold out the hope for a greater prize: direct charter cargo flights.

"Charter cargo flights are our dream, enabling us to move goods directly from China to anywhere in the world," said Johnson Sun, spokesman for China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW), Taiwan's largest airline by fleet and revenue.

However, politics is preventing China Airlines and other Taiwan airlines from realizing that dream.

"It's not complicated technically, but implementing it hinges on politics," said K.W. Nieh, spokesman for EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW), Taiwan's second-largest air carrier.

Taiwan and China split after a civil war in 1949 and have had no official contacts since then, despite ballooning trade and investment. China considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly warned it would use force if Taiwan formally declares independence.

Despite the constant war of words between leaders of both sides, agreement on direct flights, even for a brief period over the important Lunar New Year, represents a small but important step toward the strengthening of ties.

For years, the two sides have discussed direct links, with the first important move coming in 2003 with the first direct charter flights. Talks failed the following year but direct flights - with some easing of rules - were resumed in 2005.

Under the agreement for this year, six airlines from each side will provide a total of 72 flights between Jan. 20 and Feb. 13, a 25-day period. This is up from 48 flights last year, and raises the number of seats by two thirds to 33,596.

Airlines Just Break Even On CNY Flights - Execs

In addition to China Airlines and EVA, the other four Taiwanese airlines participating in the service are Transasia Airways Corp. (6702.OT), Far Eastern Air Transport Corp. (6702.OT), Mandarin Airlines Ltd., and UNI Airways Corp.

As with last year's charter flights, the aircraft will have to take flight paths that pass through Hong Kong air space, although they won't have to stop at a third destination as is currently required for all flights.

However, for the first time, Taiwan is not restricting the flights to Taiwanese businesspeople and their families.

Airline executives told Dow Jones Newswires, that airlines merely broke even on costs for last year's flights, with average passenger load factors just below regular flights. However, they stressed that the political significance of the services, however, far outweighs any potential benefits to the Taiwanese airlines' earnings.

"The importance of Lunar New Year charter flights is that they establish a set communication pattern between the two sides," said EVA Airways' Nieh.

China Airlines' Sun agrees. "It is important symbolically, because it may signal a further relaxing (in cross Strait links) in the future."

Although a repeat of such flights next year to transport the thousands of Taiwanese working in China is by no means certain, this year's flight arrangements are boosting confidence that they could lead to bigger changes in the more lucrative cargo sector.

"Cargo flights are the most valuable aspect of direct links with the mainland," said Merrill Lynch analyst Paul Dewberry.

Dewberry estimated that just one charter cargo flight daily to Shanghai, and on to the U.S. West Coast, would add an extra net profit of NT$317 million, or NT$0.08 per share, to China Airlines each year, and net NT$276 million, also NT$0.08 per share, to EVA.

Taiwan's airlines are well placed to tap the Chinese air cargo market, which, at 17% since 1990, has been expanding at double the rate of the rest of Asia's, and likely to continue to grow more than 10% in 2006, he said.

Cargo Flights Lucrative

With a combined fleet of 35 freighters, China Airlines and EVA each derive over 45% of their revenue from cargo operations, and rank among the world's top ten of cargo carriers by capacity.

China's four top carriers combined have 30 freighters.

Some analysts are urging Taiwan to move quickly in this area. Otherwise, Taiwan's airlines risk losing competitiveness to other airlines which are able to move cargo directly from China, and hence more cheaply.

In the absence of a long-standing flight agreement, Taiwanese airlines are taking matters into their own hands and are starting to take stakes in Chinese airlines.

Thursday, China Airlines completed its purchase of a 25% stake in Yangzte River Express Airlines, majority owned by China's Hainan Group, which owns Hainan Airlines Co. (600221.SH).

In the meantime, EVA is still in talks with Shanghai Airlines Co. (600591.SH) for an air cargo joint venture.

Both airlines are aiming for a slice of the lucrative eastern China cargo market, as a mere 5% of the annual 2 million metric tons in throughput capacity of Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports could boost their revenue by an estimated NT$8 billion, according to KGI's Wang

Taiwan and China plan to resume discussions on charter cargo flights after the Lunar New Year charter flights, "which will provide a better atmosphere in which to resume the talks," said Joseph Wu, head of the top Taiwanese China policymaking body, the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council.

However, few are expecting much progress in the near term.

"Beijing is unlikely to give anything that can be seen as a reward for (Taiwan's president) Chen Shui-bian," said Dewberry.

Chen's term ends in 2008, and in the past year, he has been increasingly marginalized by China's leaders' overtures of friendship to opposition leaders favoring closer ties with the mainland. "(Although) direct links make good economic sense, Chen Shui-bian doesn't have a compelling reason to see the links strengthened," said Steve Tsang, director of the Taiwan Studies Program at Oxford University's St. Anthony College

Indeed, China's maneuvers may have only strengthened Chen's resolve to adopt a tougher stance toward the mainland. In his New Year speech, he pledged to push for a new constitution in his last two years in office, despite warnings from China and growing domestic calls for better ties with Beijing.

Donald Zagoria, director of the Cross-Strait Relations project at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, believes that direct links would increase economic interdependence, further increasing the cost of military conflict, thus making such links less likely to happen.

Despite its overtures toward Taiwan's opposition, China, on its part, may be reluctant to move forward on direct cargo flights as "Taiwanese airlines, with their well-established networks, are a direct threat to China, which wants to develop its own air cargo business," said Dewberry.

Allowing Taiwanese carriers to invest in Chinese airlines is probably the extent to which Beijing will let Taiwan participate in the growing cargo business for now.

Taiwan's China Airlines says cross-strait flights almost fully booked

TAIPEI, Jan 16, 2006 (AFP) - Taiwan's leading air carrier, China Airlines said Monday that said its cross-strait charter passenger flights for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays have been almost fully booked.

"We will provide 12 round-trip flights totalling 5,903 seats to carry passengers travelling between Taiwan's CKS International Airport and mainland cities including Shanghai and Beijing," a company official said.

"More than 90 percent of the capacity has been reserved; they have almost been fully booked."

He said the airlines' subsidiary Mandarin Airlines will also provide 12 round-trip flights serving Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen.

China Airlines will kick off the charter flights with a flight from Taipei to Shanghai on January 20, he said.

Taipei and Beijing announced on November 18 last year that they had reached agreement on passenger charter flights for the period from January 20 to February 13, 2006 to bring Taiwanese home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The charter flights will be non-stop but will have to fly via Hong Kong airspace.

Taiwanese and Chinese carriers will be allowed to operate a combined 72 flights for the holiday services this year, compared with 48 flights permitted in 2005.

China and Taiwan last year agreed to chartered flights taking Taiwan businesspeople and their relatives to their home island to celebrate the traditional Chinese New Year.

The flights were hailed as historic because they were non-stop as opposed to earlier flights, which made brief stop-overs in Hong Kong or Macau.

Taiwan normally bans direct transport links with mainland China, only allowing exchanges with stops in third ports, and even the 2005 Lunar New Year flights had to go through Hong Kong airspace, adding to the travel time.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Taiwan students on mainland aspire for permanent cross-Straits charter flights

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Students from Taiwan who study on the Chinese mainland have welcomed the decision to allow them access to charter flights to take them home, and aspired that the practice will become permanent.

"Policies on charter flights for the traditional Spring Festival, or lunar new year, grant Taiwan students the right to get aboard. I believe they will continue to improve," said Chen Dongxu, a Taiwanese studying for a doctorate in Shanghai's Fudan university.

For the imminent Spring Festival that falls on Jan. 29, all Taiwanese on the mainland with legal personal documents are allowed to take charter flights back home. Before, these possibilities were limited to Taiwan businessmen and their families.

"Maybe in the short run, there will be charter flights during the Mid Autumn Festival or on Tomb-Sweeping Day. And we'll have charter flights in holidays, on weekends and regular days."

Lin Zhenxu, a Taiwanese student at the management school of elite Fudan University in Shanghai, was happy and contented with the news as he used to spend an entire day getting back to Taipei home, flying via Hong Kong or Macao and changing flights there.

But high air ticket prices may oblige many Taiwan students to drop their plan to take the flights. "The price is a little expensive for students and it's hard to book the ticket as the number of passengers is limited," said Kuang Guoxin, a Beijing University teacher.

Few Taiwan students at the university will take the charter flights, he said, adding that "price is the major factor".

In addition, the Jan. 20 - Feb. 7 flight schedule is much shorter than the students' winter vacation, making the offer less attractive.

According to an agreement reached by the mainland and Taiwan civil aviation authorities, beginning Friday, six Taiwanese airlines and six mainland Chinese airlines will provide a total of 72 round-trip charter flights until Feb. 7.

Non-stop Taiwan-China flights to begin for Lunar New Year

TAIPEI, Jan 19, 2006 (AFP) - Taiwan and China will soon kick off non-stop, cross-strait charter passenger flights for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, airline officials said here Thursday.

On Friday, Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) will operate two fully-booked flights between Taipei and Shanghai.

Five other local carriers, including EVA Airways, will also offer non-stop flights connecting Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan with the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen until mid-February.

Six mainland airliners will also offer service between China and Taiwan. In total, the 12 companies will operate 72 flights this year, as compared with 48 flights in 2005.

China and Taiwan first agreed to offer the non-stop charter flights for the lunar New Year holidays in 2005, but only to Taiwanese businessmen and their relatives living on the mainland.

The decision was hailed as historic, as earlier charter flights had to make brief stop-overs in Hong Kong or Macau under Taipei's ban on direct transport links with rival China.

This year, all Taiwanese nationals are eligible for the service. The charter flights, although non-stop, will make the trip via Hong Kong airspace.

New Year Chartered Flights Start
By Li Luxia in Shanghai and Zhan Lisheng in Guangzhou
21 January 2006
China Daily

Taiwan's China Airlines charter flight 585 touched down at Shanghai's Pudong Airport at 10:34 am on Friday, signalling the first charter flight across the Taiwan Straits for this year's Spring Festival.

It left on the return trip 2 hours later and arrived at Taipei at 3:08 pm.

This year's charter flights have been expanded to allow all Taiwanese with valid travel documents across the Straits to fly, whereas last year's charters were restricted to mainland-based Taiwan business people and their families.

The non-stop charters are the closest thing to direct flights across the Straits, which Taiwanese authorities have banned since 1949. The planes technically must fly through Hong Kong or Macao air space.

The flight had 310 passengers aboard, though China Airlines officials said they had expected about 200 for the first trip.

"It's more convenient and faster to travel between Taiwan and the mainland," said the first passenger who got off the plane, surnamed Zhang. "The trip took me less than three hours."

A businessman named Yang was impressed by the customs clearance at Pudong Airport.

"It took me only seven minutes to pass through a special channel set for Taiwanese passengers," said Yang, who runs a factory in Kunshan, East China's Jiangsu Province.

According to Dong Guoliang, the head of the mainland office of China Airlines, 12 charter flights are scheduled this year.

The tickets for the first return charter flight were sold out, though the fare was raised because of an increase in the oil price and other factors.

In Guangzhou, China Southern Airlines reports it's ready for this year's first non-stop Spring Festival chartered flight to Taiwan, scheduled for 10 am Wednesday.

Tang Jing'an, who will be the captain of that first chartered flight, said: "All the crew members believe we will make smooth, safe and sound flights."

The company has scheduled six flights to Taiwan and another six back to Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

According to Si Xianmin, general manager of China Southern, the company will use Boeing 777s for the flights and on each flight there will be two veteran captains and one technician.

Si said entertaining performances will be given during the flights, some of them in the local Taiwanese dialect.

Ground services will range from signs and guidance at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport, to one-stop services of check-in, luggage consignment and boarding.

This is the third time Spring Festival charter flights have been arranged across the Straits.

Six airlines from each side will operate 72 flights between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen on the mainland and Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, until February 13.

In all there will be 72 round-trip flights this year, compared with 48 last year.

More than 300,000 Taiwanese working, studying or living on the mainland go back to the island during Spring Festival.

Industry sources say they expect the number of passengers who choose the charter flights this year to be 50 per cent higher than last year.

Figures provided by the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council show that more than 4.3 million residents from Taiwan visited the mainland between January and November last year.

There are about 300,000 Taiwanese living in Shanghai alone.

If the "three direct links" in trade, postal and transport services were established, passenger flow between Taiwan and the mainland would reach 5 million a year, which would bring in 5 billion yuan (US$625 million) in revenue for airlines, Air China President Li Jiaxiang said earlier.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story

China Wants Talks On Extension Of Flights To Taiwan
23 January 2006

BEIJING (AP)--China on Tuesday called for talks to make the current holiday-only charter flights to Taiwan year-round in an effort to skirt the self-governing island's 57-year-old ban on direct transport links.

Such flights are now permitted only around the lunar New Year, when tens of thousands of Taiwanese living in China head home for the most important holiday of the year.

Otherwise, travelers must make an extra stop, typically in Hong Kong or Macau, adding considerably to the length of the trip.

Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Chinese officials have repeatedly urged talks with their Taiwanese counterparts on year-round charters, showing China's "sincerity and good will."

"Responsible officials in Taiwan have also openly expressed their support for joint talks on starting passenger and freight charter flights," Li said at a regularly scheduled news conference.

The annual lunar New Year charters resumed last week, and in all, six Taiwanese and six Chinese carriers will operate 72 round-trip charter flights through Feb. 7. Flights this year were expanded to four Chinese cities with the addition of Xiamen, on the Taiwan Strait directly opposite Taiwan.

They were also open this time to any Taiwanese holding a mainland travel permit. Charters in 2003 and 2005 were limited to Taiwanese living in China. There were no such flights in 2004.

While the New Year flights aren't required to stop en route, they are supposed to fly through Hong Kong airspace during the trip.

The seasonal charters have been enormously popular with Taiwanese living in China, adding momentum to calls for a lifting of the Taiwanese transport ban that dates from the 1949 split between the sides amid civil war.

However, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who favors a strong independent identity for the island, has been wary of moves toward closer links with China that increase the island's already heavy economic dependance on the mainland.

Chen's government has the final say over air routes, although aviation talks with China must be held by nominally private industry groups because of Beijing's refusal to recognize Taiwan's government.

Also at Tuesday's news conference, Li denounced a recent call by Chen for stronger government controls over Taiwanese investments in China, now estimated at $100 billion.

The mainland buys an estimated 40% of Taiwanese exports. Without its $58 billion surplus with China, Taiwan would run a trade deficit, Li said.

"The victims of any man-made sabotage or harm to cross-strait trade would be the Taiwanese economy and the Taiwanese people," Li said.

Non-governmental contact on “three direct links” practicable by both sides of Taiwan Straits
24 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 24 (CEIS) -- The successful launch of the Spring Festival charter flights across the Taiwan Straits proved the non- governmental organizations on the two sides can directly communicate on the technical and professional issues of the "three direct links" across the Taiwan Straits, the mainland spokesman said.

The non-governmental organizations can reach consensus, make arrangements and implement the relevant consensus reached on the "three direct links", Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks at a regular press conference here Tuesday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao's speech on "three direct links" delivered in Xiamen fully showed the sincerity and good will of the Chinese mainland to promote the early realization of the "three direct links", which were welcomed and supported by the Taiwan compatriots, Li said.

The realization of "three direct links" is Chinese people's own affairs on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and can be discussed by the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF), he said.

"It is well known why the talks between ARARS and SEF could not be resumed," he said.

"We maintain non-governmental organizations can consult on the issues relating to 'three direct links' to promote the early realization of 'three direct links' which the people on the two sides are longing for, he said.

Meanwhile, the administrative officials from the concerned departments can also join in the consultation in the name of non- governmental organization personages, he said.

"The methods of consultation can be as flexible as possible and the ways on solving the problems should be simple and practicable, in addition to simplifying the technical issues," he said.

Li stressed "if the Taiwan authority can take effective measures and lift barriers in consideration of the interests of the Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan's economic development, 'three direct links' across the Straits can be realized smoothly".

On the cross-Straits passenger and cargo charter flights, Li said "we promoted and put forward approaches for the cooperation of cross- Straits civil aviation industry immediately after the 2005 Spring Festival charter flight completed. "

Pu Zhaozhou, vice-president of the mainland-based Cross-Straits Aviation Transport Exchange Council, expressed his hope to start consultation of cargo and passenger charter flights across the Straits as early as possible in his letters to Fan Zhiqiang, president of Taiwan-based Taipei Aviation Transport Industry Council, Li added.

"This proved our sincerity and good will to promote cross-Straits passenger and cargo charter flights," Li said, adding "the Taiwan authority also agreed in public to discuss passenger and cargo charter flights at the same time."

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the non-governmental organizations across the Straits to hold consultations on the regular passenger and cargo flights and implement consensus reached simultaneously when he visited Taiwan businessmen in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province, not long ago.

First charter flight of the year between Beijing and Taipei departs
By CASSIE BIGGS
24 January 2006

BEIJING (AP) - The first direct charter flight of the year between Beijing and Taipei took off from the mainland's capital on Wednesday, part of the annual Lunar New Year charters between the two rivals.

Air China Flight 197 left from Beijing International Airport at 8:46 a.m. (0046 GMT) carrying 100 passengers, including students and businesspeople and their families.

Such direct flights are now permitted only around the Lunar New Year -- or Spring Festival -- when tens of thousands of Taiwanese living in China head home for the most important annual holiday.

Usually travelers must make an extra stop, typically in Hong Kong or Macau, vastly extending the roughly 750 kilometer (470 mile) trip.

Taiwan's ban on direct flights dates from the Chinese civil war, when the two sides split in 1949. Taipei has worried that Chinese bombers and troop planes disguised as airliners might be used to attack the island, 100 miles off the mainland's southern coast.

China still claims the self-ruling island as its territory and has threatened war if Taiwan makes its de facto independence permanent.

But while political ties remain strained, economic relations are thriving and Taiwanese businesses that have invested more than US$100 billion (euro80 billion) on the mainland are lobbying their government to end the ban.

They complain that travel by way of Hong Kong or another third point is too time-consuming and costly.

On Wednesday, flight attendants held up a red banner saying "Welcome to our Taiwanese compatriots who are returning home." They also gave out gift bags containing mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The passengers, some dressed in festive red to mark the Lunar New Year, boarded the plane, waving and smiling and joking with each other.

The charters began last week, including some from Shanghai, where an estimated 600,000 Taiwanese live.

In all, six Taiwanese and six Chinese carriers will operate 72 round-trip charter flights through Feb. 7. Flights this year were expanded to four Chinese cities with the addition of Xiamen, on the Taiwan Strait directly opposite Taiwan.

This is the third year that such flights have taken place.

In a possible sign of further warming of ties, flights were open this time to any Taiwanese holding a mainland travel permit. The 2003 and 2005 charters were limited to Taiwanese living in China. There were no such flights in 2004.

Direct Cross-Strait Flights Seen to Offer Fast, Cheap Service

BEIJING, Jan 25 Asia Pulse - Direct cross-Strait flights may become a reality based on the success of charter flights during Spring Festival, Assistant General Manager of the Xiamen Airlines Zhao Dong said yesterday.

"Ticket prices from Xiamen to cities in the Taiwan Province will be cut in half if direct cross-Straits flight is achieved," he told a press conference yesterday in the coastal city of East China's Fujian Province.

Xiamen Airlines will fly from Xiamen to Taipei and Kaohsiung respectively this morning, sources said.

This is the first time Xiamen is a destination for Spring Festival chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits, sources added.

There will be 14 round-trip charter flights by Xiamen Airlines, and four Taiwan air companies will take passengers between Xiamen and cities in Taiwan.

It will take 70 minutes to fly from Xiamen to Kaohsiung, as the flight has to cross Hong Kong in charter flights during Spring Festival.

"The time would be cut to a half hour if airplanes could fly directly between Xiamen and Kaohsiung," Zhao told China Daily.

"Then we will save tens of thousands of yuan per flight and the return ticket price could be considerably cheaper than the current cost of over 2,000 yuan (US$248)," he said.

Zhao predicts that direct flights would promote the development of tourism, industry and commerce relations across the Taiwan Straits.

Taiwan-Xiamen Lunar New Year Direct Charter Flights Kick Off

TAIPEI, Jan 26 Asia Pulse - A TransAsia Airways' Airbus A321 flew from Taipei to Ximen in China's Fujian Province Wednesday morning, marking the start of Taiwan-Xiamen direct charter flights, which are part of the 2006 Lunar New Year direct cross-strait charter flight services.

With 194 passengers aboard, the TransAsia plane departed from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport at 9 a.m. and arrived at Xiamen's Gaoqi Airport at 10:40 a.m.

Nearly 70 percent of the passengers were Taiwan tourists, while some were Fujian women married to Taiwan citizens. When the 194-seat Airbus A321 makes its return flight to Taipei later the same day, all the passengers aboard are expected to be Taiwan people maintaining business operations in China and their relatives.

The TransAsia flight marks the first Taipei-Xiamen direct charter flight since direct cross-strait Lunar New Year charter flight services were first offered in 2004.

Meanwhile, a Xiamen Air passenger plane arrived at the CKS airport at 9: 25 a.m., carrying Taiwan businesspeople back home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Trans Asia Airways officials said that a direct flight from Taipei to Xiamen takes 100 minutes, which is three or four hours less than the travel time on the usual route -- which includes a transit stop in Macau.

In addition to Trans Asia Airways, three other Taiwan carriers -- UNI Airways, Far East Air Transport Corp. and Mandarin Airlines -- are also operating direct Taipei-Xiamen or Kaohsiung-Xia charter flights in the three days leading up to Chinese New Year's Day, which falls on Jan. 29 this year.

Six carriers from each side of the Taiwan Strait have been authorized to operate direct cross-strait charter flights during the Chinese New Year holiday period.

Each side will offer 72 charter flights between Taipei/Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Beijing/Shanghai/Guangzhou/Xiamen in China during the holiday period. Taiwan citizens with valid entry permits issued by the governments on both sides are eligible to take the special flights.

As Lunar New Year is just around the corner, operations of direct cross-strait charter flight services are in full swing. Also expected to land at Taiwan's CKS airport or Kaohsiung Airport on Wednesday will be flights offered by China Southern Air, Hainan Airlines, Air China International and China Eastern Air.

China Southern Airlines to make more chartered flights to Taiwan
27 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 27 (CEIS) – The first Spring Festival chartered flight operated by China Southern Airlines (NYSE: ZNH, HK: 1005, SH: 600029) took off in Guangzhou, south China, for Taibei of Taiwan at 10:00 a.m. Jan. 25.

This is the second time for the airline company to provide such chartered service from the mainland to Taiwan during the Spring Festival, the traditional Chinese New Year.

The number of chartered flights operated by the company during this year’s Spring Festival will increase to 12, from 8 last year. The 12 flights can altogether provide 4,536 seats.

Regular Cross-Straits Flights Urged
By Xing Zhigang in Beijing and Pan Haixia in Shanghai
8 February 2006
China Daily

A senior civil aviation official called for the establishment of regular charter flights across the Taiwan Straits as the Spring Festival charter-flight programme ended yesterday.

Packed to capacity with 260 Taiwan passengers, Shanghai Airlines' flight FM808 flew in from Taipei to Pudong International Airport at around 2:30 pm.

Flight MF884 of Xiamen Airlines touched down at Gaoqi airport in Xiamen, a port city in East China's Fujian Province, at 3:25pm on its return from Kaohsiung.

They were the last two round-trip cross-Straits charter flights for the Spring Festival.

Six Taiwan and six mainland airlines operated a total of 72 non-stop round-trip charter flights between January 20 and yesterday.

About 27,000 passengers took the flights this year, compared with 10,000 in 48 round-trip flights last year.

Pu Zhaozhou, director of the Office of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs under the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, yesterday hailed the success of the scheme. "We will focus on cross-Straits charter flights for major festivals and weekends or even making them regular all year long," he told China Daily.

Pu, the mainland's top negotiator for cross-Straits charter flights, suggested Beijing push for early talks on the issue this year.

It was the third year the two sides of the Straits operated charter flights during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Due to Taipei's decades-old ban on the three direct links trade, transport and postal services across the Straits, travellers have to make an extra stop, typically in Hong Kong or Macao.

But in a one-off programme, non-stop charter flights were run between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen on the mainland, and Taipei and Kaohsiung on the island this year through Hong Kong airspace.

The 12 Taiwan and mainland airlines in this year's charter programme offered a total of 32,076 seats and reported an average passenger occupancy rate of more than 80 per cent.

An estimated 1 million Taiwan people work or live on the mainland. Last year, Taiwan people paid more than 4.1 million visits to the mainland.

China Eastern Airlines fulfills cross-Straits chartered flight task
8 February 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, February 8 (CEIS) – China Eastern Airlines (NYSE:CEA, HK: 0670, SH: 600115) has transported 3,766 Taiwanese between Taiwan and Chinese mainland over 20 chartered flights between January 25 and February 5, the Chinese Lunar New Year period.

This is the second time for the company to provide such services to Taiwanese.

The company used its best airplanes and staffs to finish the half- political half-commercial task. But it is unclear how much profit the company has got from the service.

Charter flights prove profitable
8 February 2006
Shanghai Daily

Both of the local airlines that offered chartered flights to Taiwan for the Spring Festival earned a profit this year, the first time the program has been a money maker for the carriers.

The two airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, said fewer restriction on who could take the flights made the government-backed program profitable. The airlines began offering the chartered flights ahead of the Spring Festival in 2003.

The flights allow people from Taiwan to return home for the holiday without having to switch planes in Hong Kong or Macau, as they normally do. Planes still have to detour to Hong Kong, however.

The two carriers handled 5,905 passengers on 16 charter flights between January 24 and yesterday, when the program wrapped up for the year.

Shanghai Airlines, which carried 2,139 passengers on six Shanghai-Taipei and Shanghai-Kaohsiung round-trip flights, said it earned a profit on both routes this year with about 85 percent of the seats on Shanghai-Taipei flights filled during the period.

"As the flights were no longer limited to Taiwanese business people and their families this year, we had passengers on our return flights from Taiwan for the first time," said Wang Wanlong, a Shanghai Airlines spokesman.

China Eastern said it handled 3,766 passengers on charter flights this year, up from 1,754 last year.

The airline offered more flights this year than last, and fewer restriction on passengers led to increased ticket sales.

Neither carrier would say how large a profit it earned from the charter flights.

Taiwan Opposition In China To Discuss Air Links
22 February 2006

BEIJING (AP)--Taiwan's main opposition party opened talks with Chinese officials on Wednesday aimed at expanding charter flights between the self-governed island and China's mainland.

Nationalist Party delegation leader Tseng Yung-chuan said he saw 'no real hindrances' to adding more direct charter flights, now limited to a brief period around the lunar New Year. All other flights between Taiwan and China require a stop in a third point, usually Hong Kong.

The holiday flights, now in their third year, have laid the groundwork for more regular service, but 'progress has not been fast enough,' Tseng said, before reporters were ushered out of the meeting.

Relations between the Nationalists and communists have warmed in recent years as they found a common cause in their opposition to Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, whose party wants formal independence. The Nationalists favor eventual reunification.

As Taiwan's main opposition party, the Nationalist Party is free to take initiatives such as visiting the mainland but cannot represent the government in formal negotiations.

During a media briefing after his meetings, Tseng brushed off criticism that his trip was meddling in governmental affairs. He said charter flight discussions 'do not involve navigation rights and so do not require negotiations between government organs.'

China's top Taiwan policy official, Chen Yunlin, said talks would try to eliminate remaining barriers to charter flights and increased tourism.

Taiwan has banned direct flights since the sides split amid civil war in 1949, and has been wary of increasing numbers of Chinese allowed to visit the island, which Beijing claims as its territory and has threatened repeatedly to invade.

China refuses to recognize Taiwan's elected government, requiring most contacts between the sides to be conducted by nominally unofficial groups.

Tseng's delegation later met with Chen's deputy Li Bingcai, who said most technical issues surrounding expanded direct flights had been resolved already.

'We're very willing to do our utmost to promote the further expansion of these charter flights and hope that this goal can be realized at an early date,' Li said.

-Edited by David Bottomley

Stephen Lam says HK will push for three links
15 March 2006
South China Morning Post extract

Hong Kong's constitutional affairs chief said yesterday the government would push for the establishment of the "three direct links" across the Taiwan Strait, referring to the opening of air, sea and mail ties between the mainland and the island.

Responding to demands by democratic lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong to establish a trade office in Taipei during a budget hearing in Legco, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung said the government supported better cross-strait relations.

But he said a trade office to encourage investment and promote Hong Kong's business was not being considered for now, despite lawmakers' concerns that any delays would harm trade.

"The government will encourage the three direct links and when it happens, we will have to plan and get prepared. We have to consider whether we need such an office in Taiwan, but that depends on long-term developments," Mr Lam said.

Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday criticised Taipei for hindering plans for the opening of air, sea and mail links.

When pressed on whether the government would welcome Taiwanese politicians, including Taipei Mayor and Kuomintang chairman Ma Ying-jeou visiting Hong Kong, Mr Lam said: "We are willing to take whatever steps helpful to improve cross-strait relations."

Taiwan seeks talks with China on tourism, charter flights in 6 mths - report
12 April 2006

TAIPEI (AFX) - Taiwan hopes that it and China can start and complete negotiations in six months on allowing more Chinese sightseers to the island and more charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, the United Daily News reported, citing a senior government official.

Taiwan does not rule out the possibility of unilaterally announcing opening to such charter flights and sightseeing tours by Chinese nationals directly from the mainland if the proposed negotiations fail to be completed in time, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said.

Wu, head of the cabinet body charged with charting Taiwan's China policy, made the remarks just as Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the island's largest opposition party Kuomintang, is about to head a mission to China for a cross-strait economic and trade forum.

Charter flights for passengers are being planned mostly for major holidays, weekends and humanitarian purposes, Wu said.

On the cargo side, up to two daily flights will be considered, he added.

From late January through early February, Taiwan's and China's airlines provided charter flights to bring Taiwan passengers on the mainland home for the Chinese New Year holidays. The charter flights were nonstop but were required to fly over Hong Kong airspace as 'direct flights' across the Taiwan Strait continue to be banned.

Taiwan opposition group in Beijing for meetings

BEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's opposition politicians arrived in Beijing on Thursday ahead of an economic forum with China's ruling Communist Party, which is seeking to isolate Taiwan's president and court opinion on the island.

The former chairman of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), Lien Chan, is leading the group of more than 100 politicians and businesspeople attending the two-day forum that starts on Friday.

The meeting will discuss direct air links between Taiwan and the mainland and other ways to broaden trade, but -- with only opposition politicians representing Taiwan -- it is unlikely to prompt any immediate policy changes.

Before retiring in August, Lien made an historic visit to the mainland in April, ending decades of hostility between the KMT and the mainland Communists.

Shortly after arriving in Beijing on Thursday, Lien, again pressed for reconciliation between China and Taiwan.

"Economic and trade relations across the Taiwan Strait are extremely close," Lien said, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency. "Today compatriots on both sides of the Strait need to engage in mutual help and benefit."

While courting Taiwan's opposition parties, which favour closer contact with the mainland, Beijing has shunned Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian, who leans towards independence for the self-ruled island and has rejected China's conditions for talks.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory.

On Wednesday, the Director of the Communist Party's Taiwan Work Office, Chen Yunlin, urged Taiwanese investors to embrace the mainland and oppose Taiwan-government limits on investment in China.

"Compatriots on both sides of the Strait should not accept any meddling and should seize opportunities and strengthen cooperation," he told reporters, according to Xinhua. Chen said Lien will also meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

Taiwan likely to lift ban on Chinese tourists

TAIPEI, April 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's independence-leaning government said on Thursday it may lift a ban on visits by Chinese tourists to the island, a move that could trump an opposition delegation's talks in Beijing this weekend.

"Even if (China) continues to stall negotiations with us, we do not rule out the possibility of unilaterally lifting the ban on mainland tourists coming to Taiwan," Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu told reporters.

His announcement came as an opposition delegation left for Beijing to discuss a slew of economic issues at a meeting that underscores the determination of China's ruling Communist Party to sideline Taiwan's government.

The delegation of more than 100 businessmen and politicians from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist Party, will hold talks on direct flights and tourist visits from the mainland at a two-day forum opening on Friday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan for a second time on Sunday, days before Hu flies to Washington, where he is expected to seek words of support for China's stance on Taiwan.

The mainland council's Wu said the government may lift the tourist ban if Beijing offers a comprehensive plan at the forum. Previously, Taipei had said talks must take place before any opening.

Wu said the government still wanted China to discuss the issue, but would not insist on talks as a precondition for opening the door to mainland tourists.

China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory, has refused to deal with President Chen Shui-bian, whose Democratic Progressive Party champions an independent Taiwan identity.

Taiwan and China have not been on speaking terms since 1999, when then-president Lee Teng-hui angered Beijing by defining bilateral ties as between "special state to state".

Direct Cross-Straights Air, Ship Links Urged
By Le Tian
17 April 2006
China Daily

Taiwan authorities have again been urged to allow direct air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits to facilitate the increasingly frequent traffic of people and goods between the mainland and the island.

Participants made the call on the final day of the two-day Cross-Straits Economic and Trade Forum in Beijing on Saturday.

They pledged to work together to push forward the issue, to make current cross-Straits chartered flights more convenient and to ensure flights operate on a regular basis, during festivals and at weekends.

Speaking at the forum, Lin Chu-Chia, a professor from Taiwan's ChengChi University, said: "If the direct links of air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits can be realized, at least 31 billion NT dollars (US$1 billion) of cost will be saved annually."

He added that the huge costs brought by indirect flights and shipments make it impossible for Taiwan to become a regional economic centre, and reduce the island's potential for external investment.

The honorary chairman of Taiwan's main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), Lien Chan, told forum delegates that it took him eight and a half hours to fly from Taipei to Beijing, far longer than a direct two-hour flight.

Li Jiaxiang, president of the mainland's major carrier Air China, based in Beijing, said he hoped direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland could be operational as soon as possible.

Taiwan not ruling out cross-strait charter flights in late May - report
18 April 2006
Xinhua Financial Network (XFN) News

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - Taiwan does not rule out the possibility of more charter flights in late May if negotiations with China can be completed in time, the United Daily News reported, citing Joseph Wu, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

Taiwan and China now have a greater degree of consensus on allowing charter flights to allow Taiwan businesspeople to return home for the three most important holidays in the Chinese lunar calendar, he said.

These are the Lunar New Year, Moon Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, which this year falls on May 31.

From late January through early February, Taiwan and China airlines provided charter flights to bring Taiwan passengers on the mainland home for the Lunar New Year holidays. The charter flights were nonstop but were required to fly over Hong Kong airspace as "direct flights" across the Taiwan Strait continue to be banned.

Wu said more is to be done to allow more Chinese nationals to come to Taiwan for sightseeing, even though Beijing has officially unveiled a package on this subject.

China has yet to formally designate Taiwan as a permitted destination for sightseeing, and the two sides have yet to hold consultations and work out related details, he said.

Separately, Wu said the government here will not allow Beijing to infringe upon its authority by unilaterally designating travel agencies on the island to receive inbound tourists from the mainland.

TAIWAN PRESS: China Charter Flights To Be 38 Flights/Week
4 June 2006

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan and China agreed in principle to start operating regular passenger and cargo charter flights four days a week before China's National Day holiday in October, the Commercial Times reported Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

There will be a total of 38 round-trip charter flights each week from Friday to Monday, the paper said.

Joseph Wu, chairman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, told Dow Jones Newswires Friday that Taiwan is talking to China about regular passenger and cargo charter flights.

But Wu said he couldn't disclose details of the talks.

Taiwan and China split in a civil war in 1949, and Taiwan has banned direct contacts between the two sides since then.

Currently, people from Taiwan have to pass through a third location, usually Hong or Macau, when they travel to China.

Taiwan and China did have special flights for Taiwanese investors in China during the Lunar Chinese New Year holiday in 2003, 2005 and 2006, but the planes still had to fly through Hong Kong's air space.

Cathay Pacific Shares Unmoved By Taiwan-China Flights
13 June 2006

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Shares of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) rose slightly Wednesday as investors shrugged off news Taiwan will allow more frequent direct charter flights between the island and mainland China.

Taiwan said it will allow direct charter flights across the strait with China during four annual holidays, a slight increase from previously limited services during Chinese New Year, but hardly enough to pose a threat to Cathay's strong business picking up China-bound passengers in Taiwan.

Cathay's shares were up 0.4% at HK$13.80 at 0330 GMT.

Hong Kong is the top transit point for passengers traveling between China and Taiwan, which aren't connected by regularly scheduled direct flights due to their decades-old political standoff.

That has made Hong Kong-Taipei one of the world's busiest passenger routes. It is believed to be Cathay's most profitable route.

Analysts said it is still too early to determine whether such flights will take place.

"Sometimes the mainland offers to start those flights, but the Taiwanese decline the offer," said Alan Lam, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Ltd. "We don't yet know whether the Chinese side will accept the proposition."

Even if such flights come about, Lam said they would still be subject to many limits, including capacity constraints.

Shares of China's three main carriers - likely beneficiaries of the agreement - rose in early trading.

At 0330 GMT, flag carrier Air China Ltd. (0753.HK) had jumped 4.3% to HK$3.03, China Eastern Airlines Ltd. (CEA) had gained 1.9% to HK$1.09 and China Southern Airlines Co. (ZNH) had risen 1.8% to HK$1.71.

"The agreement could definitely benefit mainland carriers, as slots for charter flights in the past have been evenly divided between Chinese and Taiwanese airlines," said Lam.

Cross-strait air links agreement met with caution
Airlines, travel firms say holidays deal won't have big impact
15 June 2006
South China Morning Post

Reaction has been muted to yesterday's announcement that Taipei and Beijing have agreed to allow direct flights for cargo and passenger flights during major holidays.

Airlines were cautious and travel agencies said the move would do little to increase their business.

Both Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair said they would closely monitor developments.

"This marks a logical step forward in developing a charter regime between the mainland and Taiwan," a Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said.

"Given the number of flights involved, we do not expect it to have a significant impact on traffic through the Hong Kong hub."

A Dragonair spokesman also said the cross-strait arrangement should not have a serious impact on the airline "as such flights are only operated when there is demand above normal capacity".

Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce chief economist David O'Rear said the agreement's impact on passenger and cargo traffic should be minimal.

He said there was only a modest pick-up in traffic during the main holiday periods, while cargo business was not significant on holidays.

In Taiwan, carriers and tourist agencies were lukewarm.

China Airlines and EVA Airways welcomed the new measure, while other airlines said what they wanted most was a regular cargo charter service.

"The permission for mainland-based businessmen to air-ship their plant facilities and related components to and from the mainland would do little to help increase our business," said an official.

He said most of the time passenger charter service would lose money as passenger numbers would not cover operational costs.

He said access airports were limited to just Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen and Guangzhou, preventing passengers taking the flights from other airports.

However, Lieh Kuo-wei, vice-president of EVA, welcomed the new measure, saying it represented "big progress" in cross-strait transport links.

Taipei-based China Airlines' spokesman Jonathan Sun Hung-wen said the announcement was good news for his company and the airline would apply to operate charter services on the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Taiwan's Kuomintang and fellow opposition group the People First Party (PFP), however, criticised the government for "fooling the public".

"We don't see any real benefit for businessmen and airline operators here," said Lee Hung-chun, the PFP's legislative caucus leader.

He said what Taiwan needed was full direct transport links.

"If we continue to drag on the issue of the cross-strait direct transport links, we only stand to lose our market to other countries," he warned.

U.S. welcomes Taiwan-China aviation deal
15 June 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States said Thursday it welcomes an agreement between Taiwan and China to increase charter flights across the Taiwan Strait.

"The agreement is an important step forward in boosting cross-Strait contacts, which are in the interest of the people on both sides of the Strait," the State Department said in a statement.

Officials said Wednesday that Taiwan and China would allow charter flights during four major holidays -- not just during the Lunar New Year as has been the policy. Some analysts said the move could be a big step toward Taiwan lifting a five-decade ban on regular air service between the rivals, who split amid civil war in 1949.

Taiwanese in China currently have to fly to Hong Kong or Macau to change planes before they travel on to Taiwan.

Taiwan-China politics: Flight plan
26 June 2006
Economist Intelligence Unit - Business Asia

More cross-Strait flights are announced, but politics will continue to complicate economic co-operation between Taiwan and China

Taiwan and China on June 14th announced plans to expand their limited direct aviation links, by increasing the frequency of cross-Strait passenger flights and by introducing chartered cross-Strait cargo flights for the first time. The new arrangements mark another small step towards the possible eventual establishment of full cross-Strait transport services, and the new cargo flights, in particular, could provide a modest boost to Taiwanese manufacturers with factories in China.

But the creation of more permanent two-way trade and transport links still faces severe political obstacles—most notably Taiwan’s suspicion of integration with China, and Beijing’s refusal to deal on a government-to-government basis with Taipei. As ever, the issue of cross-Strait trade and transport links will remain heavily politicised.

The new flights are the latest in a series of measures in the past three years liberalising (albeit slightly) cross-Strait travel. These steps are gradually becoming more ambitious. The process started in January 2003, when Taiwanese aircraft were temporarily allowed to make cross-Strait passenger flights during the lunar New Year holiday, marking the first time since 1949 that any commercial cross-Strait flights had been authorised (although planes still had to land in Hong Kong or Macau en route). That historic step was built on in 2005 with the first non-stop flights (although a diversion through Hong Kong airspace was still necessary) and the participation of Chinese airlines for the first time.

The latest agreement, announced almost simultaneously by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation, extends the passenger flights to cover four major holiday periods (instead of just one previously). A total of 168 return charter flights will now be permitted each year, with the first flights under the new scheme expected to start as soon as the mid-autumn festival in October.

In addition, it appears that Taiwanese-invested companies on the mainland will be able, for the first time, to apply for permission to use chartered cargo flights to transport equipment across the Taiwan Strait. However, each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Chartered cargo flights will also be allowed for emergency and humanitarian purposes.

Clearly, the latest agreement falls a long way short of full normalisation of cross-Strait aviation links, which is the ultimate goal both of China’s leadership in Beijing and of the many in Taiwan who support closer economic integration. Some critics of the agreement—particularly critics of the president, Chen Shui-bian—are likely to argue that the latest air pact is little more than a smokescreen to divert attention from Mr Chen’s domestic political difficulties (including an insider-trading scandal involving his son-in-law and opposition-led moves for a recall vote on Mr Chen’s presidency). The passenger flights still cover only four holidays, whereas critics have said passenger flights will not really be useful until they are scheduled regularly at weekends. The vast majority of business travellers between Taiwan and China, for instance, still have to stop over in destinations like Hong Kong, a situation that clearly wastes time and money.

Although it appears, from the sketchy reports so far, that the cargo flights will be allowed at any time of the year, the fact that each flight will require special permission suggests the new arrangement will in no way be viable as a primary means of conducting trade. Just as they argue that the plan for passenger flights does not go far enough, Taiwanese critics of the island’s pro-independence-leaning government are also likely to call for far more cargo flights. An article on the Taipei Times website suggests the MAC hopes that the cargo and passenger flights will soon take place “almost daily”. Even if this occurs, the need for case-by-case authorisation for cargo flights—assuming this is still a requirement—will make heavy volumes of trade unfeasible all the same.

Rather, the groundbreaking part of the new arrangement is the way it looks likely, to some extent, to institutionalise the travel framework that already exists. Making cross-Strait passenger flights a regular occurrence four times a year could reduce or eliminate the long negotiations required in the past. Also, if the new arrangement is successful, it could set the stage for further and more formal liberalisation of transport links in the future.

Politics, of course, is almost certain to intervene in some way. Cross-Strait relations are a key ideological and tactical battleground for Taiwan’s political parties. Opportunistic skirmishing over the issue looks especially likely given the current volatility in the island’s political scene. Taiwanese legislators voted on June 12th to consider a recall motion against Mr Chen. Sensing a chance to unseat Mr Chen, the opposition parties are likely to raise the tempo of their efforts to discredit the president. These efforts could include attempting to portray the aviation plan as an effort by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to undermine moves by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to improve trade links with China; since 2005 the KMT has been discussing cross-Strait links with officials on the mainland.

Although the positions of both the DPP and the KMT on cross-Strait co-operation are complex, in broad terms the pro-independence DPP is more wary of rapid normalisation of two-way links, fearing that China is attempting to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty and draw the island into Beijing’s orbit by fostering economic dependence on China’s markets. The DPP still recognises the political appeal to voters of supporting cautious cross-Strait integration, mindful of the potential economic benefits. But its position contrasts with that of the KMT, which is bolder in wanting to open direct links with China to boost tourism and invigorate other aspects of Taiwan’s service sector.

Cross-strait medevac flights start
28 June 2006
South China Morning Post

Hainan Airlines subsidiary Deer Jet and medical services provider International SOS yesterday began offering direct emergency medical flights between the mainland and Taiwan.

Mainland and Taiwanese authorities gave regulatory permission for direct emergency flights across the Taiwan Strait earlier this month, but the Deer Jet-SOS charter venture is the first to take off.

Deer Jet, which has a fleet of seven aircraft and has been trying to expand business charter flights on the mainland, said the service could ferry patients from either the mainland or Taiwan.

Deer Jet chairman Du Xiaoping said official procedures for the service were the same as any other direct flight and specially equipped aircraft had been set aside to pick up patients from any airport on the mainland or Taiwan, air traffic control permitting.

"There were no restrictions on medical charter flights in the framework agreed by the mainland and Taiwan," Mr Du said.

Taiwan allows air carriers to fly cargo charters to and from Chinese mainland
7 July 2006

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan on Friday gave the green light to the island's air carriers to fly cargo charters to and from the Chinese mainland, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.

The CAA said it would also accept applications from mainland carriers to fly cargo charters from China to Taiwan and back to the mainland, and allow carriers from the two sides to conduct emergency medical flights in both directions.

The moves represent a slight improvement in relations between the long time rivals, which for the past several years have been characterized by mutual invective and distrust. The sides split amid civil war in 1949.

Under the new regulations Taiwanese and Chinese carriers would be allowed to ship equipment and components utilized by mainland factories established by Taiwanese companies, the administration said.

It said applications would be approved on a case by case basis effective immediately.

The CAA announcement follows a June 14 agreement between China and Taiwan on the cargo issue.

That agreement also extended passenger charter flights between Taiwan and the mainland from the Chinese lunar New Year period to other major holidays.

Taiwan has banned regular direct flights between the two sides since they split when the Communists took over the mainland and Taiwan began resisting Beijing's rule.

Analysts believe a full opening of the lucrative Chinese cargo market -- beyond the new arrangement -- could provide significant profits for Taiwan's two largest carriers, China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp.

With a combined fleet of 35 freighters, they derive about 45 percent of their profits from cargo operations and rank among the world's top ten cargo carriers by capacity

China's four top cargo carriers have a combined fleet of 30 freighters.

Taiwan's EVA Air secures approval for Shanghai Airlines Cargo investment

TAIPEI, July 14, 2006 (AFP) - Taiwan's EVA Airways said Friday it had obtained approval from the Investment Commission to acquire a 25 percent stake in Shanghai Airlines Cargo for 3.88 million US dollars.

"EVA Air is eyeing the booming cargo market on the mainland. Airliners there are eager to expand capacity to handle more cargo shipment," an EVA Air spokesman said.

He said EVA Air would buy the 25 percent stake from Sino Prime Ltd., one of Shanghai Airlines Cargo's founding shareholders.

China's Shanghai Airlines holds a 55 percent stake in Shanghai Airlines Cargo, he said.

The investment is pending regulatory approval from Chinese authorities, the spokesman said.

With or without government approval, Taiwan companies have funnelled an estimated 100-150 billion dollars into mainland China for various investment projects over the years despite cross-strait political rivalry.

China replaced the United States as Taiwan's largest market in November 2002 and is the favorite destination of the island's investors.

Taiwan's China Air To Fly Cargo Charter To Shanghai
17 July 2006

TAIPEI (AP)--A Taiwanese carrier is set to fly the island's first cargo charter to the Chinese mainland this week, an airline official said Monday.

The China Airlines (2610.TW) B747-400 will depart Taipei on Wednesday night for the three-hour direct flight to Shanghai, said Charles Chen, an official with the airline.

Taiwan considers the communist mainland its biggest security threat and has banned direct flights to and from China since they split amid civil war in 1949.

But thriving trade between the two neighbors in the past decade forced authorities to agree to launch limited direct cargo flights last month.

Under the new regulations, Taiwanese and Chinese carriers are only allowed to ship equipment and components utilized by mainland factories established by Taiwanese companies.

On Wednesday, the China Airlines plane will carry equipment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (5425.OT) to the chip factory it established in Shanghai, officials said.

The direct flights could save expenses and also avoid damage to the fragile, high-tech equipment and components by skipping the additional touchdowns in Hong Kong or other ports, they said.

A full opening of the lucrative Chinese cargo market - beyond the new arrangement - could provide significant profits for Taiwan's two largest carriers, China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW).

With a combined fleet of 35 planes, the two derive about 45% of their profits from cargo operations and rank among the world's top 10 cargo carriers by capacity.

China's four top cargo carriers have a combined fleet of 30 planes.

Taiwan airline launches first cargo charter to Chinese mainland
19 July 2006

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's largest air carrier on Wednesday launched the first direct cargo flight between the island and China since 1949, signaling a small but important breakthrough between the longtime rivals.

A China Airlines B747-400 departed Taipei for Shanghai after 10:10 p.m. (1410 GMT), carrying equipment for a chip factory established by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in the eastern Chinese city.

Cambodian airline to launch Taiwan-China flights
21 August 2006

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Angkor Airways, a Cambodian carrier, will soon launch flights between Taiwan and China, using Phnom Penh as a transit point, the airline said on Monday.

Beginning Sept. 7, Angkor will fly three times a week between Taipei and the western Chinese city of Chengdu, airline official Thomas Chang said.

Angkor Airways hopes to cash in on the growing market for travel between Taiwan and China, with the new flights offering passengers an alternative route, he said.

Taiwan and China have barred official contacts and direct flights since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949.

But trade and travel have thrived. Most Taiwanese travel to China by way of Hong Kong or Macau, which are Chinese territories not directly governed by Beijing.

Angkor Airways also flies between Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, and Angkor Wat, a cluster of legendary temples built in the 12th century.

Chang said several Taiwanese travel agents plan to take advantage of the new flights by offering group tours to Angkor Wat and to Sichuan province's Jiuzhaigou, which is known for scenic mountains, lakes and waterfalls.

Angkor's flights could later be extended to other Chinese cities including Chongqing and Kunming, he added.

China Airlines to cash in on festival rush

Hui Ching-hoo
20 September 2006
China Daily - Hong Kong Edition

Taiwan-based carrier China Airlines pins high hopes on the long vacation of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. Michael Wu, general manager, Hong Kong branch, told China Daily it would operate 28 extra flights from Hong Kong to Taipei and Kaohsiung to cash in on the passengers' upsurge during the peak season.

"Mid-autumn festival this year falls in the long vacation of National Day. We wish there will be a lot of Taiwanese businessmen flying back to Taiwan for
family gatherings," Wu said.

The 28 extra flights will provide up to 6,800 seats. "We raised throughput capacity as compared to last year," said Wu. Apart from increasing the number of flights, China Airlines will deploy more resources such as opening more check-in counters to cope with the festival rush, he added.

China Airlines has collaborated with transportation companies to offer "one-stop" service for its clients.

"A Dongguan Taiwanese can check in at Dongguan railway station, and then his luggage will be directly transferred to his flight," Wu said.

Besides, there had been progress in the direct links between Taiwan and the mainland in the past years, he said.

Now, Taiwanese are allowed to charter planes to Taiwan on some special occasions such as Chinese New Year. Getting travel visa for the mainlanders to visit Taiwan has also become easier.

"Direct communication is necessary in the light of strong market demand and it has to carry out in phases..." said Wu.

"But I don't want to make any guess on the timetable because it involves many complicated issues. However, it certainly is a win-win situation for aviation business for both the places."

Wu also dispelled anxiety that Hong Kong's status as a transshipment hub will not be shaken following the free communication between the mainland and Taiwan. "The pie actually is growing bigger. Hong Kong is still the first choice for the hundreds of thousands of Taiwan businesspeople stationed in southern region of the mainland," he said.

Hong Kong-Taiwan is one of the main routes for China Airlines, which currently accounts for about 30 per cent of total market share. Wu, however, admitted the route was nearing saturation point.

"We will be very delighted if the route can reap single-digit growth because of the limited passenger pool and rigorous competition," he said.

"But we will continue our efforts to lure corporate clients to take our flights," he added.

The airlines also plans to shore up its coordination with Hong Kong travel agents and online ticket-booking services.

"Those are the areas which still have room to explore... For instance, the online service has become more convenient due to the boom in teenage travellers. We have to gear up to seize the opportunity," Wu said.

Talking about oil hike, Wu pointed out that the company has streamlined many operation processes to minimize the impact. "The ratio of oil costs soared from 20 per cent two years ago to the current 30 to 40 per cent."

To tackle the problem, China Airlines has set up special divisions last year. "The divisions monitor every aspect of our operation to ensure they run under
most effective condition. With their assistance, we saved about US$380,000 last year," he said.

Wu, however, dismissed the challenge from low-cost carriers (LOCs). "Services of the LOCs cannot compete with conventional carriers. Also, the advantage on cheap tickets is not that obvious in long-haul flights," he said. China Airlines currently owns 67 aircraft and it will continue to increase the fleet. "We plan to buy two Boeing cargo flights at the end of the year and next year."

Taiwan, China resume direct flights for holiday season

TAIPEI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A charter plane left Taipei for Shanghai on Friday morning to kick off a 10-day Mid-Autumn Festival travel season in Taiwan and China, which seldom allow direct flights because of deep political differences.

The Eva Air flight, which was almost filled to capacity, was expected back later in the day with every seat occupied, largely by Taiwan business people, an airline spokesman said.

About 1 million Taiwan citizens work or live in China. Travellers previously had to change flights in Hong Kong or Macau to return home for the traditional holiday.

Another 47 flights involving six airlines from Taiwan and six from China will cross the straits before Oct. 8.

For security reasons, the flights must fly via Hong Kong air space, without landing, while travelling between Taipei or Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen.

Taiwan has banned direct air links with China since their split in 1949 after a civil war, with Taipei concerned that easy travel links could undermine its security and immigration rules.

The two sides exchanged landmark non-stop charter flights for the first time in more than 50 years during the Lunar New Year Festival of January and February 2005.

In June China and Taiwan agreed to regular direct passenger flights during four traditional holiday seasons every year. Taiwan will allow special emergency medical and humanitarian aid charter flights as well as direct cargo flights on a case-by-case basis, the two sides decided.

China views Taiwan as a part of its territory and has threatened the use of force if the self-ruled island formally declares independence.

Taiwan, China make progress over talks on flights

TAIPEI, Feb 1, 2007 (AFP) - Taipei and Beijing have made progress in talks for a further relaxation on cross-strait charter flights to allow more tourists from China to visit Taiwan, an official said Thursday.

"We have made progress on some points, while others are yet to be discussed," said an official from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) that charts Taiwan's policy towards the mainland.

"We hope an agreement can be achieved soon but there is no timetable."

They are also discussing whether to allow Taiwan and mainland tourists to take regular passenger charter flights. Current regulations permit only Taiwan businesspeople and their families across the strait during major holidays.

As for non-holiday flights, "we are talking about charter flights during busiest times," the MAC official said.

Direct air links across the Taiwan Strait are barred at present, with non-stop charter flights required to fly over Hong Kong airspace.

Frequent charter cargo flights are also on the discussion list.

The remarks came barely two weeks before six airlines each from Taiwan and China are slated to provide a total of 96 cross-strait passenger charter flights during February 13-26 for the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Direct links have been cut since China and Taiwan's split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Taiwan expects pact on air links, Chinese tourist visits

TAIPEI, Feb 4, 2007 (AFP) - A Taiwanese government official Sunday said he was optimistic about an agreement with Beijing soon over a relaxation of limits on cross-strait charter flights.

"I'm optimistically expecting (an agreement)" between the two sides, Tung Chen-yuan, deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, told AFP.

At the centre of the negotiations is how to ease current rules that limit visits from mainland Chinese to those who are extending their travel from elsewhere and those with overseas student or overseas permanent resident status.

Talks also touched on whether to allow Taiwanese and mainland tourists to take regular passenger charter flights.

The two sides are separately represented in the negotiations by authorised civil bodies as China refuses to make official contact with Taiwan.

Current regulations permit only Taiwan businesspeople and their families to fly across the strait, and only during major holidays.

Tung said Beijing had intentionally delayed the talks late last year due to what he said could be China's political considerations, referring to December's Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections in Taiwan.

As Taiwan will stage parliamentary polls late this year, Tung said the first half of 2007 should be a good time for the two sides to forge an agreement on air transportation and Taiwan visits by Chinese tourists.

"The first half of this year should be the window of opportunities," he said.

Hopefully, 1,000 Chinese tourists will be allowed to visit Taiwan each day, he said.

Direct air links across the Taiwan Strait are barred at present, with non-stop charter flights required to fly over Hong Kong airspace.

Frequent chartered cargo flights are also on the discussion list.

Six airlines each from Taiwan and China are slated to provide a total of 96 cross-strait passenger charter flights during February 13-26 for the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Direct links have been cut since China and Taiwan's split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Taiwan may allow expanded number of Chinese tourists by way of charter flights
26 February 2007

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan may permit an expansion of charter flights from rival China, paving the way for an increase in the number of Chinese tourists who visit the island, President Chen Shui-bian said on Monday.

The sides have been negotiating the tourist issue for more than a year in an attempt to allow as many as 365,000 Chinese visitors to come to Taiwan annually -- almost 10 times the current number.

A major sticking point has been Taiwan's refusal to accept a Chinese condition that visitors arrive on direct charter flights from the mainland.

Regular commercial flights have been banned since the sides split amid civil war in 1949, and direct charter flights are confined to major holidays -- including the just concluded Lunar New Year. The charters are off-limits to non-Taiwanese.

Speaking to a group of mainland-based Taiwanese business people Monday, Chen said that a change in policy on mainland visitors could be coming soon.

"We have aggressively negotiated with the Chinese side and hope the cross-Strait charter flights can be expanded under the condition that our economic power and national security will not be undermined," Chen said.

"We hope there will be more frequent and convenient arrangements ... so mainland ... tourists can also take the charter flights," he said.

He added that there was a "positive development" in recent negotiations, but did not elaborate.

Taiwanese businesses hope charter flights can bring a larger number of Chinese to spur the sagging local tourism industry.

An estimated three million Taiwanese travel to China each year, mostly via Hong Kong.

New direct charter flights between China, Taiwan to begin March 30, China says
19 March 2007

BEIJING (AP) - China announced a new round of charter flights with Taiwan on Monday in an effort to temporarily skirt a ban on direct transport links between the historical rivals.

Eleven Chinese and Taiwanese carriers will fly 42 round trips through April 8 to coincide with the traditional grave sweeping festival, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Flights will service Taiwan's capital Taipei and southern metropolis of Kaohsiung, and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen on the Chinese side.

The flights were agreed to last year during negotiations between private aviation associations, required because China refuses to recognize Taiwan's government or deal with it directly.

Taiwan has banned direct scheduled commercial flights since the sides split amid civil war in 1949, but direct charter flights have been gradually expanding to cater to the needs of Taiwanese residents of the mainland, although they remain confined to major holidays -- including last month's Lunar New Year. The charters are off-limits to non-Taiwanese.

Taiwan's government is considering an expansion of charters to allow Chinese tourists to fly directly to the island, instead of by way of third countries as they are required to do so now.

Under pressure from the domestic tourist industry, Taiwan has been looking for way to expand the number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit the island each year to 365,000, almost 10 times the current number.

Taiwan, China agree on technical issues of cross-strait travel; talks still on
20 June 2007

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - Taipei and Beijing have reached consensus on most technical issues involved in further relaxing their rules over cross-strait cargo charter flights, passenger charter flights and direct travel by mainland Chinese sight-seeing tourists to the island, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.

However, a few more areas need to be ironed out for an official accord to be reached, it said.

An official with MAC, which oversees Taiwan's relations with mainland China, said: 'Our chairman (Chen Ming-tung) said that both sides have reached consensus on most of the technical issues regarding these (matters), while a few are yet to be discussed.'

The official, who requested anonymity, did not elaborate on the technical issues agreed upon.

Representatives from both sides are continuing their negotiations and the MAC hopes that a decision can be made as soon as possible, the official said, adding that no timetable has been set for the decisions.

Among the issues regarding passenger charter flights that have yet to be agreed upon is whether to extend the current holiday-only services to a weekly peak period, or from Friday afternoon until Sunday, the official added.

In June 2006, Taipei and Beijing announced a decision to allow Taiwanese airlines and their mainland counterparts to operate charter flights for passenger charter services during the Lunar New Year, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays.

The non-stop passenger charter flights, however, currently need to fly over Hong Kong air space.

At the moment, special cargo flights are available only for Taiwanese businesses to transport their machinery, equipment, components and parts for their production plants on the mainland.

Businesses are also able to bring back their machinery and equipment to Taiwan through the special cargo flights, although they are done on a case-by-case basis.

Currently, only Chinese citizens who extend their travel from other destinations and those with overseas student visas or permanent resident status overseas qualify for entry as tourists into Taiwan.

Taiwan's China Airlines to provide Moon Festival charter flights

TAIPEI, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Taiwan's leading carrier China Airlines (CAL) and unit Mandarin Airlines would offer four round-trip charter flights to Shanghai during the upcoming Moon Festival, a CAL spokesman said Monday.

The two carriers would use Boeing 747-400S to fly between Taipei and Shanghai between September 22 and September 30, the spokesman said.

The Moon Festival, also known as Mid-Autumn Festival, falls on September 25.

"The scheduled flights are 80-90 percent booked. We are pleased by the demand," he added.

Under an agreement signed between China and Taiwan, six carriers from each side are allowed to provide non-stop charter passenger services during the Lunar New Year, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The relaxation was meant to transport the Taiwanese who are working on the mainland and their families home for the holidays.

Cross-strait direct transport links have been banned since China and Taiwan split at the end of a civil war im 1949, forcing all air and sea services to transit via third ports, mainly Hong Kong.

Chinese mainland, Taiwan to offer 94 chartered flights in Chinese New Year

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland and Taiwan will arrange 94 cross-Straits charter flights during the upcoming Spring Festival, China's General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said in a circular released on its website here on Monday.

The flights will operate from Feb. 2 to Feb. 6 and from Feb. 11 to Feb. 15, the circular said. It was earlier reported 93 flights would be arranged.

The first non-stop chartered flight across the Taiwan Straits was launched during the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2005. The following year, 72 round-trip flights were arranged during the holiday.

This year's Spring Festival, the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Feb. 7. It is the most important festive occasion for Chinese to enjoy family reunions.

Like previous years, 12 airline companies, six from each side, will offer flights during the period. The airports involved include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Taipei and Kaohsiung, according to the CAAC.

TAIWAN'S AIRLINES SEEK EXPANSION OF CROSS-STRAIT CHARTER SERVICES

TAIPEI, Feb 6 Asia Pulse - Representatives of Taiwan's airlines industry proposed Tuesday that the government further expand cross-Taiwan Strait charter services, which they said have already proven successful in previous limited runs with passenger load factors of up to 80 percent.

The representatives suggested that the frequency of cross-strait passenger and cargo charters and the destinations they serve be expanded to serve more customers.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) officials responded to the proposal by noting that any plan to augment service would need to be arranged through negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The ministry said it would work out the technical details involved if the Cabinet arrives at a policy to expand the services.

Cross-strait passenger charter flights were first launched in 2003 to transport China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and their families home for the Chinese New Year holiday and back to China after that.

The services were expanded in 2006 to cover the Mid Autumn Festival and further in 2007 to cover two more holidays, the Tomb Sweeping Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival.

Expanding the number of non-stop flights between Taiwan and China has been a major point of emphasis of the local business community.

Local airlines, facing declining passenger numbers at home with the advent of the high-speed railway, are looking for new lucrative routes, while businesspeople would like to avoid the extra time and expense of traveling to China on business through a third point, usually Hong Kong or Macau.

There have been no regularly scheduled non-stop flights between Taiwan and China in nearly 60 years.

According to MOTC figures, a total of 192 flights carried 37,445 passengers during the 2007 Chinese New Year period from Feb. 5 to March 5, with a passenger load factor of 81.06 percent.

For the Tomb Sweeping Festival period that ran from March 29 to April 12, there were a total of 42 flights with a total of 7,000 passengers, with the passenger load factor reaching 75 percent.

For the Dragon Boat Festival period that ran from June 15 to June 22, a total of 42 flights carried 6,500 passengers, with a load factor of 74 percent.

The Mid Autumn Festival charter period, from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30, saw a total of 48 flights carry 8,500 passengers, with a passenger load factor of 78 percent.

In terms of cross-strait cargo charters, Taiwan's China Airlines operated a total of five flights last year on Dec. 12, Dec. 18, Dec. 24, Dec. 27 and Dec. 29.

As for emergency charter services, Taiwan's TransAsia Airways and China's Deer Jet provided 20 flights and four flights, respectively, to deliver Taiwanese patients from China back to Taiwan for medical treatment.

Direct flights not expected to diminish city's appeal
14 February 2008
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong will remain an important gateway to the mainland for Taiwanese, even after direct flights across the strait begin, Taiwan's representative in Hong Kong predicts.

Jeff Yang Jia-jiunn said the city's convenient location and transport links would continue to attract Taiwanese tourists to stay for a few days en route to the mainland.

"Hong Kong is a very good gateway to observe mainland China," the Chung Hwa Travel Service managing director said, also citing the city's appeal as a tourist spot.

The "three direct links" - transport, trade and mail - are a major issue in the island's presidential election campaign, but Mr Yang said he was not confident they could be achieved within the term of the next Taiwanese government.

Both candidates in next month's presidential election - Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang and Frank Hsieh Chang-ting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party - have pledged to push for implementation of the three links, with Mr Hsieh setting various conditions. Flights across the strait are now required to stop at a third place, usually Hong Kong or Macau.

Mr Yang said that when the links were established, there would be some effect on travellers' plans to stop in Hong Kong. But Hong Kong was making preparations, he said, citing the proposed rail link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports.

"Even when there are direct flights, there will not be routes to and from all cities on the two sides. For example, travellers to Guangdong, Guangxi and other places in southern China may still stop over in Hong Kong."

In 2006, 31.1 per cent of the 2.18 million Taiwanese visitors to Hong Kong stayed in the city overnight, compared with 29.1 per cent in 2005, according to Hong Kong Tourism Board statistics.

Mr Yang also said he believed the imminent Taiwan presidential polls would not change Taiwan's policies towards Hong Kong.

Taiwan's Ma promises new air links to rival China
29 February 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan presidential front-runner Ma Ying-jeou said Friday the island will initiate commercial flights to China if he is elected, raising prospects for increased trade and travel between the longtime rivals.

The remarks to businesspeople came in the run-up to the March 22 presidential vote, in which Ma is heavily favored to defeat Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Ma is the candidate of Taiwan's once-dominant Nationalists, who favor expanded business links with the mainland.

Ma spokesman Luo Chih-chiang said Ma told a meeting of businesspeople that if he is elected he will begin weekend charter flights to China before July, daily charters by the end of 2008 and commercial flights by June 2009.

Luo did not give any indication of whether China would approve the proposed arrangement, though Beijing generally favors expanded links with Taiwan, as long as they do not confer the island with the trappings of sovereignty.

The two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and China continues to insist that Taiwan is part of its territory.

While Taiwan and China have strong commercial relations -- annual trade now exceeds $100 billion -- Ma has long maintained that Taiwan's economic development is being retarded by the lack of commercial flights to the mainland.

Unless they use infrequent holiday charters, cross-Strait travelers now have to change planes at a third point -- usually Hong Kong.

Hsieh has said he favors increased charters to China, though he has not come out in support of commercial flights.

Direct cross-strait flights could help Taiwan airlines: businessmen

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Some members of Taiwan's aviation industry have called for starting regular charter flights or even opening normal service across the Taiwan Strait, steps that they say would help local airlines deal with competition from domestic express trains and higher fuel costs.

Tony Fan, chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association and president of Taiwan's TransAsia Airways, said that direct flights would benefit carriers, and all policies that helped promote direct flights would be welcomed by the industry.

Since Taiwan's express railway network began operation in January 2007, local airlines have seen passenger traffic slump. In the first 10 months of last year, the airlines saw a 25.3 percent decline in passengers.

Taiwan's Far East Airways has experienced a series of financial crises. The company also said that it hoped direct flights would help reduce risks for investors and encourage the main stakeholder to salvage the company.

Analysts believe that some local airlines could go bankrupt within a year unless there is increased service across the strait.

Airlines to increase flights during elections
10 March 2008
Taipei Times

Several Taiwanese and foreign airlines will increase their flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong ahead of the March 22 presidential election to help carry China-based Taiwanese home to vote in the election, industry sources said.

Taipei-headquartered China Airlines said it has added 10 additional flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong from March 19 to March 21. The additional flights are already almost fully booked, the company said.

According to Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways, seats on its regular and five added flights between March 19 and March 21 between Taiwan and Hong Kong have all been reserved.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, meanwhile, said its Taiwan-Hong Kong flights between March 19 and March 21 will all be full.

EVA Airways Corp will increase its flights on the Taiwan-Hong Kong route during the same period, the company said in a statement issued on Friday.

EVA Air said that the measure is aimed at enabling China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to easily return home ahead of the presidential election, and predicted that the remaining seats on board all its Taiwan-Hong Kong flights will be fully booked next week.

Meanwhile, EVA Air said that it would raise its fares between 10 percent to 15 percent on all its routes by the end of this month to reflect its rising fuel costs as crude oil prices continue to surge in the world market.

The company said that its oil cost had risen from US$84 per barrel on average for the whole of last year to an average US$117 per barrel since the beginning of this year.

An affiliate of shipping conglomerate Evergreen Group, EVA is the largest privately owned Taiwanese airline.

I'm really sad to see the Taiwan's High Speed Rail has drastically cut into domestic flights from TransAsia Airways, Mandarin Airlines, Eva Air, Uni Air, Far Eastern Air Transport and China Airlines. :(

FEATURE-For Taiwan's presidential rivals, it's China, stupid

TAIPEI, March 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan business people will have a chance this year to do something they have never done before -- fly direct to China in just under an hour.

It doesn't sound like much, but it will be a gift for the roughly 750,000 people with factories and other investments in booming China who now have to transit through Hong Kong or Macau, adding up to half a day onto their travel time.

Regular weekend charter flights as early as July, daily charters by late 2008 and, eventually, daily scheduled flights anchor the platform of Ma Yingjeou, the China-friendly Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidate and frontrunner in the run-up to the island's March 22 presidential election.

Holiday-season charters began in January 2005, ending a ban that Taiwan had in place since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. But even those one-off flights must go through Hong Kong airspace, meaning many are roundabout and almost as time-consuming as making a transit stop.

China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan its own, would welcome direct links with open arms.

Ma's rival is Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has held the presidency for the past eight years, nettling China with its tilt towards independence.

But even Hsieh, under pressure to satisfy investors looking for a stronger foothold in China's booming economy, is following -- albeit more cautiously -- in Ma's footsteps, pledging a gradual increase in direct flights to China.

"The general direction of both candidates is the same, with the difference being matters of pace and degree," said Lin Chong-Pin, president of the Taipei-based Foundation on International and Cross-strait Studies.

NOT JUST FLIGHTS

Direct flights is just one of several plans that the rival parties have come up with for closer ties to an economy averaging annual growth of close to 10 percent. That such proposals should come from the DPP, better known for foot-dragging on China, is remarkable.

The latest came on Wednesday when the government -- in a move analysts saw as a DPP gambit for votes more than a money-spinner for Taiwan's economy -- said it would allow the island's banks to invest in lenders in China.

Taiwan investors have poured more than $100 billion into China, where they are lured by a common language, lower labour costs and a potentially huge consumer market.

"For so long, people have complained about jobs going to China, so they hope for more opportunities," said Emily Chen, 40, a Taipei swing voter who works in an executive search firm.

President Chen Shui-bian, who steps down in May due to term limits, has made little headway on economic ties since he took office in 2000 because of his stormy relations with China.

"Chen's departure ... will give China an opportunity to adjust its Taiwan policy to approach Taiwan as a whole, the entire political spectrum," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at City University of Hong Kong.

Both presidential candidates have proposed raising the limit, now at 40 percent of net assets, on how much listed Taiwan firms can invest in China.

Ma has also suggested that up to 3,000 Chinese travellers could visit Taiwan per day on direct flights. Analysts say such a boost in tourism could add 0.2 percentage point to Taiwan's gross domestic product growth (GDP), which was 5.7 percent in 2007.

ECONOMIC WARMTH, POLITICAL CHILL

Still, Ma and Hsieh have both said they would resist China politically despite warming on the economic front.

Hsieh talks up Taiwan's sovereignty as often as he mentions trade ties, and Ma says he would not discuss unification with Chinese leaders while in office even though it is an eventual goal of his party.

Beijing would rather work with Ma, political analysts say.

"I think Beijing is aware that Frank Hsieh is different from Chen Shui-bian. Hsieh has said he wants to lift the ban on cross-Strait trade and he wants to have direct links," said Chen Mu-min, professor at National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan.

"But Beijing still doesn't know whether Hsieh really wants to do that or if he is just paying lip service."

Taiwan Eyes China Weekend Charter Flights From July 4 -Report
5 April 2008

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan's new government plans that weekend charter flights to China won't have to fly over Hong Kong's air space starting July 4, the Economic Daily News reported Friday, citing a Kuomintang think tank official, George Chen.

The opposition Kuomintang party candidate Ma Ying-jeou, who won the presidential elections March 22, promised to implement weekend charter flights by July. He assumes office May 20.

Taiwan plans to add Taichung, in central Taiwan, to Taipei and Kaohsiung for the flights running from Friday to Monday and connecting to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen, the paper cited Chen as saying.

HK carriers brace for direct links
City's role in Taiwan-mainland trade and travel may be in the balance
5 April 2008
South China Morning Post

Planned direct links between Taiwan and the mainland following the election of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang appears at first glance to be a big blow to Hong Kong's transportation and logistics industries.

For years, the ban on direct cross-strait links has meant rich pickings for Hong Kong, which has acted as a third-party stopover point for cargo ships and passenger aircraft.

Hopes for a swift implementation of direct links were raised following Ma Ying-jeou's victory in Taiwan's presidential elections late last month. Mr Ma pledged to create a "common market" between the mainland and Taiwan by easing restrictions on cross-strait investments and travel.

Mr Ma has promised to allow regular weekend charter flights from July 1 with scheduled direct flights to be established next year. The flowering of direct trade between the mainland and Taiwan, considered by Beijing as a renegade province, could mean the eventual end of Hong Kong as a stopover for trade and people.

But with direct links on the agenda for at least 10 years, Hong Kong-based shipping lines and airlines have had plenty of time to prepare themselves for the expected loss of revenue.

In the end it may not be as bad as first expected. Hong Kong still has cost benefits which mean some Taiwan-based business would remain.

The idea of direct links was first mooted in 1992 but talks were halted in 1995 when then Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui declared the island an independent country.

Not until 2005 were hopes of direct links reignited when former KMT chairman Lien Chan visited the mainland.

Since then many shipping lines have got around the trade restrictions by sailing their vessels to a Japanese customs-controlled island near Okinawa before arriving at their destinations on either side of the Taiwan Strait.

"We have practised 'direct links' more than 10 years ago," said Stanley Shen, a spokesman at Orient Overseas Containers Line. Ships can sail "directly" across the strait by passing near the island and not necessarily even stopping over. Many other shipping lines have followed suit.

Yet, some seaborne shipments still go via Hong Kong through midstream operations because of cost-effectiveness. In this process, the cargo is dispatched from ocean vessels and transferred to barges in Hong Kong to continue the journey to their destinations upstream in the Pearl River Delta.

"About one million 20-foot equivalent units (teu) go via Hong Kong into the PRD from Taiwan each year," said Sunny Ho, an executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council. "The implementation of direct links may not be such a big blow to midstream operators since their service is cost- and time-competitive."

Midstream and river trade terminal throughput in Hong Kong reached 6.7 million teu last year, with Taiwan cargo accounting for about one-third of that. Since the Hong Kong government double-counts transshipment cargo, the throughput volume of Taiwan cargo needs to be multiplied by two. For Hong Kong port as a whole, Taiwan accounts for 8.3 per cent of the cargo.

Hong Kong-based airlines such as Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair are expected to feel the impact of direct links more than shippers.

Some 60 per cent of Taiwan passengers, totalling 700,000 million trips, would skip Hong Kong to go directly to the mainland under the proposed opening up, said Susie Chiang Su-hui, chairman of the Taiwan Business Association (HK).

"Taiwan business people can just take an hour's flight to the mainland, saving up to a day transiting through Hong Kong," Ms Chiang said.

Worse still, most air freight will bypass Hong Kong and go directly to the mainland once direct links are established, resulting in US$20 billion worth of revenue being taken away from Hong Kong, according to Ms Chiang.

Cathay and Dragonair say they cannot produce figures on how many passengers and how much cargo originated in Taiwan. China Airlines, the Taiwan-based carrier and the third-largest air cargo carrier in Hong Kong, declined to comment.

Because Cathay has expanded its international network over the past decade, its net profit would decline 10 per cent after direct links were introduced, said Jim Wong, a transport analyst for Nomura Securities. Hong Kong International Airport would lose around 3 per cent of its total passenger numbers.

Air Macau and Macau International Airport would be the big losers as 80 per cent of its Taiwan transit passengers would travel directly to the mainland, translating into a 60 per cent drop in passenger numbers, said Mr Wong.

As 60 per cent of air cargo to and from Hong Kong is carried in the belly of passenger flights, Hong Kong-Taiwan air freight capacity would drop 36 per cent, assuming 60 per cent of passenger flights would be cut between the two cities due to declining passengers.

But one freight forwarder said that air cargo destined for the Pearl River Delta would continue to use Hong Kong as a transit point instead of going straight to airports in Guangzhou or Shenzhen.

"The reliability and efficiency in Hong Kong are unmatched," the executive said.

Even if all of the re-exported cargo from Taiwan bypassed Hong Kong, the impact on the city's economy would be minimal. The percentage of re-exports from Taiwan to the total re-export trade in Hong Kong has been around 7 per cent in the past three years. And it amounted to just 3.3 to 3.4 per cent of total trade.

The real winners would be Taiwanese carriers such as Eva Airlines and China Airlines.

Mr Wong predicts passenger volumes will increase by 17 per cent for China Airlines and 14 per cent for Eva.