| Subjects: |
- Government will review public security mechanism for Mainland tourists and duly reinforce appropriate measures
- Negotiations on the planning for cross-strait direct flight paths must be conducted on the basis that our national security will not be undermined
|
MAC Regular Press Briefing
| |
Briefer : Johnnason Liu, Deputy Minister
Date : July 2, 2009
Location : Taipei |
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Government will review public security mechanism for Mainland tourists and duly reinforce appropriate measures
QUESTION: What information does the MAC have regarding the three female Mainland tourists who left their group and disappeared? The first check on Mainland tourists who visit Taiwan is done by the mainland Chinese Public Security agencies, but it is the Taiwan travel agency that is fined. This seems unfair. How will the security mechanism be tightened up in the future?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ With regard to the incident involving the three runaway Mainland tourists, the Tourism Bureau, National Immigration Agency and National Police Agency are positively dealing with this case. We hope these runaway tourists will voluntarily appear as soon as possible.
■ The government will be constantly reviewing the mechanism for maintaining public security relating to the visits to Taiwan by Mainland tourists and will also duly reinforce appropriate measures. In addition, we will urge the Mainland side to understand whether the tour operators have checked that the relevant information they have is accurate as well as whether illegal groups have gotten involved with the incident. We believe that, when compared with past situations where related issues could not be dealt with through negotiations, in the future similar illegalities will be reduced to a minimum through cross-strait joint efforts in taking administrative measures and in implementing security controls.
Negotiations on the planning for cross-strait direct flight paths must be conducted on the basis that our national security will not be undermined
QUESTION: Wang Yi, director of the Mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, met the cross-strait financial MOU observation mission today and said the number of direct flights should be increased from 700 to 800; also, that the median line of the Taiwan Strait should be opened up to air routes. What is the MAC’s view?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ According to media reports, what Director Wang Yi said was that the northern flight path across the Taiwan Strait was close to capacity and that the median line of the Taiwan Strait should be opened up to air traffic so that this will be conducive to the direct flight arrangements. In the Cross-Strait Air Transport Supplementary Agreement signed at the third Chiang-Chen Talks, the number of cross-strait flights increased from 108 to 270, which provided some relief for the insufficiency of flights. But in fact, they are still insufficient in number. When we were negotiating, we repeatedly called for an increase in flight number and we believe this can continue to be handled within the existing mechanism.
■ As for flight paths, this was also discussed during the third Chiang-Chen Talks. In the end, both sides agreed to open a second northern line. The key consideration lies in our hope that the increase in the number of flight paths will promote the flight path optimization so as to increase transport efficiency and resolve the issue stemming from the saturation of flight paths.
■ Cross-strait negotiations on flight paths must be conducted on the basis that our national security will not be undermined. Taking into consideration national security is necessary. As such, the Taiwan side already clearly stated during the third Chiang-Chen Talks that the median line of the Taiwan Strait was not included in our negotiation planning.