China, Taiwan Plan Direct Daily Flight Talks
Taiwan and China plan to hold a new round of talks within the next two months aimed at establishing the first daily flights between the two sides, Taiwan's top negotiator with Beijing said.
The talks will focus on expanding the frequency and number of destinations of weekend charter flights across the Taiwan Strait that began in July, Chiang Pin-Kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, said in an interview Wednesday. The negotiations, which Taiwan expects to take place in late October or early November, also will cover the possible establishment of direct ocean-shipping links between Taiwan and China and the launch of charter flights for cargo, Mr. Chiang said.
The comments indicate Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou aims to press ahead with expanding ties to China despite deep dissatisfaction with his efforts since taking office in May.
Even as trade and investment have boomed in recent years, executives and tourists traveling between Taiwan and China have been forced to make time-consuming stopovers in third locations like Hong Kong. The weekend charter flights that began in July were widely seen as a breakthrough in Taiwan-China ties, marking the first regularly scheduled, nonstop air traffic between the longtime adversaries since they split amid civil war nearly 60 years ago.
Mr. Chiang said the two sides have yet to finalize the date for the new negotiations, which are to be held in Taipei. China's government didn't comment specifically on the new talks, but at a routine press conference Wednesday, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing said that both sides have reached 'some fundamental agreements' over the direct-air-traffic links.
Mr. Ma took office four months ago, promising a 'new era' of peace and economic normalization with China, after years of contentious relations under his predecessor. But Mr. Ma's approval ratings have plummeted since, and he has faced growing challenges within Taiwan to his accommodating stance toward Beijing.
Nevertheless, the Taiwan president is sticking to his goal of realizing full air-traffic links with China by the end of this year.
'We'll talk about daily charter flights and even scheduled [direct] flights,' said Mr. Chiang, 75 years old, whose foundation is Taiwan's designated negotiating body with Beijing in the absence of formal governmental links.
In the future, Taiwanese and Chinese negotiators will meet once every six months to finalize agreements, Mr. Chiang said. He said Taiwan aims to begin talks with China next year on various components of a proposed economic agreement, such as investment protection and avoidance of double taxation. In order to allow Taiwan banks to open branches in China, Taiwan also hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding on financial supervision cooperation with China next year.
Mr. Chiang acknowledged that reaching an accord on abolishing tariffs between the two sides could be a sticking point.
China is the largest export market for Taiwan, which enjoys a sizable surplus in their trade relationship. The island's exports to China totaled US$73.87 billion in January-August, about 40% of its total exports.
Ting-I Tsai / Alex Pevzner
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