|
The cross-strait charters () are special flights between Taiwan and China, across the Taiwan Strait. After the Chinese Civil War, no direct flights were allowed between Taiwan and China due to mistrust and security concerns; this remained the case until 2003. Passengers had to transfer in a third city, such as Hong Kong, to complete their trip. For the years 2003 and 2005, the scheme was restricted for the Chinese New Year period, so it was then called the Lunar New Year cross-strait charter () in Taiwan, and the charter for Taiwan residents () in China. For these years, the scheme was restricted for Taiwanese businessmen and their family members (excluding students and tourists) who are in China to travel to and from Taiwan. In 2006, the service was opened to all residents of Taiwan for the first time. From the Mid-Autumn Festival on 2006, the valid period of the agreement was expanded to four main Chinese festivals: Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and the original Chinese New Year. In July 2008, charter flights expanded to weekends. Flight restrictions on nationalities were removed and China residents as well as foreign citizens were able to take the flights. In November 2008, flights became daily instead only for the weekends. 108 weekly flights were established and the planes no longer had to travel through Hong Kong airspace, cutting travel times by two thirds in some cases such as flying from Taipei to Shanghai. In April 2009, a new agreement was reached to allow cross-strait flights to become regularly scheduled instead of chartered. The cap on the flights was also raised to 270 flights per week, effective 31 August 2009.〔 〕 On 22 May 2010, another 100 additional weekly flights were permitted to be operated effective 14 June 2010, and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Shijiazhuang Airport were added to the list of allowed destinations.〔http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/news/chinese-carriers-expected-operate-more-cross-straits-flights-0524〕〔http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1284453&lang=eng_news〕 ==Background== There was no official contact for over 50 years between the governments of Taiwan — where the Kuomintang (KMT) had retreated — and China since the Communist Party of China established the People's Republic of China in 1949, after the Chinese Civil War. However, when the Chinese Economic Reform began welcoming foreign funds in the 1980s, China sought greater contact with Taiwan. Chiang Ching-kuo refused, beginning a policy of "Three Noes". The Three Noes policy was abandoned, however, when a Taiwan flight was hijacked and Taiwan was forced to negotiate with China, beginning a series of negotiations. Merchants started investing China and people visited their relatives. Air traffic between Taiwan and China grew dramatically, but no direct flights were allowed. Passengers traveling to China had to travel via an intermediate destination such as Hong Kong or Macau, or via South Korea and Japan. The travel time usually took more than a half day, especially during the holidays such as the Spring Festival. In the 1990s, the government of China proposed the 'three direct links' - including direct air flights between China and Taiwan - to ease the travel problem. However, Taiwanese government rejected this idea. In 2002, Taiwan legislator John Chiang proposed that there should be special charters across the strait, and received support from the public and the aviation industry in Taiwan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cross-Strait charter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|