Beijing urges Taipei to resume cross-Strait passenger flights & shipping, starts opening tourist groups
Mainland's goodwill ahead of William Ching-te Lai's inauguration should be embraced to lower tensions, benefit people.
On the day of the meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou, the former leader of Taiwan, I highlighted Xi’s vow to expand travel across Taiwan Strait, a completely different angle from the reports by CNN, Reuters, NYT, AP, Guardian, WSJ, and Bloomberg, all of which didn’t mention it.
Almost three weeks later, multiple ministries in Beijing today launches a concerted effort to urge Taipei to ease travel across the Taiwan Strait, with the Ministry of Transportation asking for “full normalization of direct cross-strait maritime passenger transportation,” the Civil Aviation Administration asking to “swiftly resume passenger flights” between 30 largest cities in the mainland and Taiwan, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism opening tourist groups for residents of Fujian, population 41.5 million, to Matsu, an island under the jurisdiction of Taiwan, and promising opening Fujian tourist groups to Taiwan proper if Taipei agrees to resume maritime passenger transportation between a Fujian city and Taiwan.
Earlier this week, the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office answered a question from a mainland-based, state-run media journalist on whether the mainland was considering letting mainland tourists go to Taiwan. The answer was, in its own ways, a yes.
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In the Taiwanese election held in January 2024, William Ching-te Lai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), defeated his Kuomingtang (KMT) rival to be the next leader of Taiwan. At the time, the election of yet another DPP leader prompted widespread worries, especially internationally, over tensions rising across the Taiwan Strait. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria opined in March that “the world’s most dangerous place has only gotten more dangerous.”
Except it didn’t. Now, less than a month before Mr. Lai’s inauguration in Taipei, Beijing is pushing for significantly more travels across the Strait, including enabling its residents to swarm the island. That simply can’t be escalatory.
There are enough wars and conflicts going on in the world right now and everyone, EVERYONE, could use less tensions across the Taiwan Strait. And there is no viable reason Taiwan should leave money on the table - at the peak of mainland tourism, there were 4.15 million mainland visits to Taiwan in 2015, bringing 230 billion NTD ($7 bililon USD) to the island.
The DPP authorities should therefore grasp the opportunity to lower tensions and benefit its economy. With its “abiding interest” across the Taiwan Strait being “peace and stability” and stated aim of “not seeking conflict with China,” Washington should use its influence on Taipei to make the wise choice.
The Ministry of Transportation says
On April 28th, the Cross-Strait Shipping Exchange Association has already used existing channels to urge the Taiwanese authorities to resume direct cross-strait maritime passenger transportation. Cross-strait maritime passenger routes are crucial channels for people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, and the full normalization of direct cross-strait maritime passenger transportation is beneficial for normal interactions between compatriots on both sides of the strait.
The Civil Aviation Administration says
On April 28th, the Cross-Strait Aviation Transportation Exchange Committee, through designated contacts, once again sent a letter to the Taiwanese authorities urging for the prompt and comprehensive resumption of direct passenger flights across the strait.
From last year to the present, both the number of flights and passenger volume on cross-strait routes have shown a continuous growth trend. Both people on both sides of the strait and airlines hope to expand cross-strait routes and destinations, increase flights, and facilitate travel. In particular, there is a hope to swiftly resume passenger flights between Tianjin, Xi'an, Haikou, Kunming, Nanning, Quanzhou, Wuxi, Jinan, Yantai, Changsha, Changchun, Dalian, Guilin, Guiyang, Harbin, Shenyang, Urumqi, Zhangjiajie, Wenzhou, Changzhou, Hefei, Huangshan, Lanzhou, Lijiang, Nanchang, Taiyuan, Xining, Yinchuan, Xuzhou, and Wuyishan and Taiwan.
The Taiwan Affairs Office says
Spokesperson Zhu Fenglian of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Answers Questions from A Journalist
(April 28, 2024)
Question: Today, the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration announced through existing communication channels established by the cross-strait agreements urging the Taiwanese authorities to resume cross-strait maritime passenger transportation and expand the resumption of cross-strait air passenger transportation with mainland destinations. What are the spokesperson's comments on this?
Answer: Direct cross-strait transportation has greatly facilitated people-to-people exchanges between the two sides and played an important role in promoting the common interests of compatriots on both sides. Since last year, as COVID-19 prevention and control entered a new stage, we have actively responded to the mainstream public opinion among Taiwan compatriots for peace, development, communication, and cooperation, and have actively promoted the resumption of cross-strait air and maritime direct transportation as well as the "small three links." Although the number of cross-strait air passenger flights and passenger volume has increased since the epidemic period, there are still significant inconveniences in overall cross-strait travel due to limited destinations. Cross-strait maritime passenger transportation has not yet resumed. The calls from people on both sides for the full resumption of cross-strait air and maritime direct transportation are very strong. We hope that the Taiwanese side will fully consider the demands of people on both sides and shipping companies, and will promptly resume comprehensive cross-strait maritime passenger transportation, including routes such as Pingtan-Taipei, Pingtan-Taichung, Xiamen-Taichung, Xiamen-Keelung, and Zhejiang Damao Island-Keelung, and restore air passenger transportation between Tianjin and 30 other mainland destinations and Taiwan.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism says
On April 28th, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Rao Quan, met with a visiting delegation from the Kuomintang (KMT) led by Fu Kun-Chi, in Beijing. Both sides engaged in in-depth discussions regarding the enhancement of cultural and tourism cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan.
Rao Quan stated that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has consistently supported exchanges and cooperation between various sectors and fields on both sides, including tourism. They will take the lead in resuming tourism for Fujian residents to Matsu and, after the resumption of maritime passenger transportation between Pingtan and Taiwan, will restore group tourism for Fujian residents to Taiwan. At the same time, we warmly welcome Taiwanese compatriots to visit the mainland for tourism, to experience the splendid Chinese culture, feel the development and changes in the mainland, and share in the achievements of mainland progress.
On April 24th, a mainland journalist asked the Taiwan Affairs Office if the mainland will open up tourism from mainland to Taiwan and got a positive response.
Reporter from Fujian Xiamen TV: General Secretary Xi Jinping's recent meeting with Ma Ying-jeou and his delegation in Beijing on the 10th included an invitation for Taiwanese compatriots to visit the mainland more frequently and for mainland residents to explore the island of Taiwan. Does this suggest that the mainland is considering opening up tourism for mainland residents to Taiwan?
Zhu Fenglian: General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks underscore the increasingly close and amicable ties between compatriots on both sides of the strait and the shared aspiration for deeper integration and development. Despite existing artificial hurdles inside the island and obstacles to cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, we remain confident that with concerted efforts and the removal of such barriers by both sides, cross-strait exchanges and cooperation will thrive. We are committed to taking proactive measures to foster collaboration across various sectors, including tourism, between the two sides.