Taiwan to trial mainland Chinese transit stop program

2016/01/07

A limited mainland Chinese transit stop program is soon to be trialed in Taiwan, paving the way for further development of the local aviation industry and strengthening of cross-strait relations.

Travelers flying from Chongqing, Kunming and Nanchang in mainland China will be able to transit through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to third destinations. Boasting a combined population of more than 100 million, the cities are projected to boost TTIA’s passenger traffic by 180,000.

Lin Chu-chia, deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, said Jan. 5 that the undertaking is a concrete result of the historic meeting last November in Singapore between ROC President Ma Ying-jeou and mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“Interaction between Taipei and Beijing is on the up and up after the landmark meeting,” he said. “The trial builds upon this healthy state of affairs and follows a series of advances in bilateral ties over the last few months, including the launch of a hotline connecting the heads of cross-strait affairs and the enrollment of mainland Chinese junior college graduates in Taiwan tertiary institutions.

“These are in addition to significant headway in negotiations for the establishment of reciprocal representative offices, a mechanism for dispute resolution and the trade in goods agreement.”

Lin said if the program is a success and approved for expansion, the number of mainland Chinese transiting through Taiwan is estimated to top 500,000 a year.

Presently, five carriers operate flights between TTIA and the three mainland Chinese cities. Taiwan’s China Airlines Co. Ltd. and EVA Airways Corp. said they welcome the move and anticipate increased demand on their Australasian, North American and Southeast Asian routes.

According to the MAC, the trial should commence shortly after completion of preliminary preparations by Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation and Beijing-headquartered Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=240959&ctNode=2194&mp=9)