Despite escalating tensions between Taiwan and China, the Taiwanese government has indicated that it would allow flights from Taiwan to travel to additional Chinese destinations.
Taiwan has recently allowed flights to only four destinations, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Xiamen. However, prior to the pandemic, numerous other cities connected the two countries.
China had been calling for a resumption of flights,
The Mainland Affairs Council – the Taiwanese body responsible for relations with China – announced last week that regular flights would be permitted to 10 cities, and charter flights to a further 13. These were selected based on the presence of Taiwanese businesspeople.
Taiwan has been eager to resume people-to-people contact with China. A spokesman for the Council said that this decision would demonstrate Taiwanese goodwill.
Direct flights between the two rivals began in 2003 – with charter flights – and with regular commercial flights in 2009.
[Image: 罗布泊, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56753008]