Chen Guiqing, an associate researcher at the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, called on the Democratic Progressive Party to restore cross-strait passenger and cargo shipping routes as soon as possible and resume normal cross-strait exchanges. The picture shows a China Eastern Airlines flight bound for Taipei on December 15, 2008, officially announcing the arrival of the era of cross-strait three links. (Source of information and pictures: China News Service)
Taiwan plans to relax epidemic prevention measures in July, and Taiwanese businessmen have successively suggested resuming cross-strait passenger and cargo destinations such as Nanjing and Wuxi. On the 25th, China Central Television’s WeChat official account "Look at the Taiwan Strait" published an exclusive interview with Chen Guiqing, an associate researcher at the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who pointed out: "The only four routes are too few!" He called on the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to put down their insistence on "Taiwan independence". Based on the actual needs of Taiwanese compatriots and enterprises, cross-Strait passenger and cargo routes should be restored as soon as possible and normal cross-Strait exchanges should be resumed.
It is also understood that the annual cross-strait non-governmental exchange event " Strait Forum ", originally scheduled to be held in Fujian at the end of June, has been postponed to mid-July. The exact agenda and attendees are still to be determined. In addition to the epidemic, the reason for the postponement is that the mainland also considered that if Taiwan’s entry epidemic prevention and quarantine regulations continue to be relaxed, Fujian Province intends to propose a quarantine project for Taiwanese to fly to mainland participants, such as adopting a closed-loop, two-point and one-line movement method to reduce the number of quarantine days, so as to This hope can increase the number of Taiwanese people attending the conference.
Chen Guiqing said that factors such as the Democratic Progressive Party authorities' suppression of cross-strait exchanges have had a major impact on the development of Taiwan's aviation industry. First of all, it directly affects the passenger business of the air transport industry. EVA Air Overall passenger revenue in the first quarter of 2022 was 1.508 billion yuan, a decrease of more than 100 million yuan compared with the same period last year. Secondly, it brings a lot of inconvenience to Taiwanese people when traveling.
Chen Guiqing said that it is very necessary for the cross-strait aviation industry to resume passenger and cargo routes. The first is determined by the objective situation. As the cross-strait epidemic situation slows down, Taiwan is expected to relax border control measures in July. All walks of life hope to simultaneously relax cross-strait shipping and cross-strait exchanges. Secondly, it is determined by objective needs. For more than two years, the COVID-19 epidemic has seriously affected cross-strait non-governmental exchanges and the normal lives of people.
Chen Guiqing emphasized that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to restore exchanges and normal exchanges in the aviation industry across the Taiwan Strait: First, we must put aside political baggage and truly deal with issues from the perspective of people's needs. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities are advised to put aside their obsession with "Taiwan independence" and proceed from the actual needs of Taiwanese compatriots and Taiwanese enterprises to resume cross-Strait passenger routes and normalized cross-Strait exchanges as soon as possible. Second, we hope that more Taiwan compatriots will take concrete actions to join the trend of cross-strait integration and development. Only by gathering the joint strength of both sides of the Taiwan Strait can we tear down the barriers to cross-Strait exchanges built by the DPP authorities.
At the regular press conference on the 15th of this month, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Mainland China, said that there are no obstacles on the mainland to the resumption of route operations. The DPP authorities should follow the good news and respond to the needs of enterprises and the people. The Mainland Affairs Council responded at the time that the resumption of cross-Strait air passenger routes, in addition to considering travel demand, the overall epidemic situation, and epidemic prevention capabilities, still requires cross-Strait communication because implementation involves permission from both sides.
