Taiwan says demand for cross-strait flights is overstated

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan had been waiting for China to respond on tourism negotiations since February 2025. A response finally came this week, but Taiwan's agency responsible for policies regarding mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, said Thursday (April 16) it arrived through the wrong channel, addressed the wrong subject, and went to the wrong interlocutor. The letter urged full restoration of cross-strait direct flights. The Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會) confirmed receipt but signaled no urgency. The government unexpectedly added demand "is not as high as imagined."

The letter came from China's Cross-Strait Civil Aviation Exchange Working Committee (海峽兩岸航空運輸交流工作委員會) through the Cross-Strait Civil Aviation Working Group (民航小兩會), a semi-official mechanism for flight route coordination established under the 2008 Cross-Strait Air Transport Agreement. China sent the letter Wednesday, three days after the Taiwan Affairs Office (中台辦) announced 10 policy measures following a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文). The KMT is Taiwan's main opposition party.

Taiwan's government framed the disconnect as a dispute over proper channels. The Tourism Administration (觀光署) contacted China's Cross-Strait Tourism Association (海旅會) in February 2025 to discuss group tourism through what Taiwan calls the "Tourism Mini Two Associations" (觀光小兩會) — a separate mechanism from the civil aviation channel. China never responded. Taiwan maintains that group tourism discussions should proceed through that tourism channel, not the aviation mechanism Beijing used.

Lin Chien-yu (林千右), deputy director of the Mainland Affairs Council's economic affairs department, confirmed receipt at a post-cabinet meeting press conference Thursday. "We will evaluate the contents of the letter together with relevant government agencies," Lin said. The contents have not been publicly disclosed.

Taiwan's cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the Executive Yuan (行政院) welcomes "healthy and orderly" cross-strait exchanges but emphasized that current demand does not warrant immediate expansion. "The actual demand for cross-strait direct flights at this stage is not as high as imagined," Lee said. "After confirming the contents of the letter, relevant agencies will conduct a pragmatic evaluation."

Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said Wednesday that cross-strait routes currently have 420 weekly flights planned but only 310 actually operating — a 26 percent gap Taiwan interprets as evidence of soft demand. Taiwan also has 13 additional routes available for charter flights, but no applications have been received, Chen said.

Taiwan Points to Lopsided Travel Flows
The data reveals a stark asymmetry in cross-strait travel. In 2024, approximately seven Taiwanese traveled to China for every Chinese who visited Taiwan, according to Mainland Affairs Council figures. Taiwan has already opened what it can control unilaterally — allowing Chinese citizens residing in third countries to visit since September 2023 and reopening Kinmen and Matsu, Taiwan's outlying islands near the Chinese coast, to Chinese tourists in August 2024. Beijing has not reciprocated by allowing group tours from the mainland.

Chen Binhua (陳斌華), spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office (國台辦), said Wednesday that China has "no policy restrictions" on fully restoring cross-strait direct flight routes. "The obstacle lies entirely with the Democratic Progressive Party authorities," Chen said, urging Taiwan to "comply with public opinion" and remove "unreasonable restrictions" on cross-strait air transport. Cross-strait direct flight passengers exceeded 5.78 million in 2025, Chen said, adding that "the calls from people on both sides of the strait for full resumption of direct flight routes are very strong."

Taiwan's government has cited safety concerns. Beijing's June 2024 issuance of guidelines threatening Taiwanese "independence separatists" prompted Taiwan to raise its travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau to "Orange," advising citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chiang (梁文傑) said in January that the guidelines made it "almost impossible" to allow group travel to China.

Taiwan's tourism industry remains caught in the middle. Ringo Lee (李奇嶽), chairman of the High Quality of Travel Association (中華優質旅遊發展協會), said the group tour ban should be lifted to normalize cross-strait exchanges. "It depends on whether the Mainland Affairs Council and the Lai administration can receive this signal and goodwill," Lee told the United Daily News.

The Tourism Administration has maintained four unchanged positions on cross-strait exchanges: healthy and orderly resumption, welcoming Chinese tourists, ensuring safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, and requiring group tourism discussions to proceed through the proper mini two associations channel. The Mainland Affairs Council has not indicated whether it will respond through the civil aviation channel China used.

KMT Chairwoman Cheng has promised 99 more steps after her "successful first step" in Beijing. But the opposition party cannot compel the government to negotiate — and the government says it has been trying to reach China through a different channel for over a year. The letter arrived through civil aviation. Taiwan proposed using tourism associations. The flights may be grounded, but so is the question of which line either side is willing to answer. ◼