China Watch Blog has reported that for the first time Taiwan and China quibbled over direct flights, leading to the suspension of 31 of the 50 additional cross-strait flights agreed during the negotiation in Taipei held May 21-22 of this year.
A senior Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) official indicated that the disagreement is mainly due to personnel discrepancy, where mainland Chinese who reviewed the agreement are not the negotiators, hence causing differing views afterward.
China insists on focusing on Xiamen or Fuzhou in Fujian province as destinations for the 20 of the 50 additional cross-strait flights, with Taiwan currently flying to the said two cities 135 times weekly. Moreover China is refusing Taiwan`s applications to fly direct to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province; Qingdao, Shangdong Province; Hangzhou and Ningbo, Zhejiang Province; and Nanjing, Jiangsu Province; Zhengzhou, Henan Province and Tianjin.
In response, Taiwan has refused applications from China`s airlines for 31 flights, but allowing Xiamen Airlines` application for four additional flights from Taiwan`s Taichung and Kaohsiung to Fujian`s Xiamen and Fuzhou, as well as Hainan Airlines` Taoyuan-to-Beijing flight till Oct. 30 of this year.
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