RP-Taiwan air talks resume in 2-3 months

The controversy over the air agreement between the Philippines and Taiwan will continue until after the presidential elections in Taiwan on March 18.

Hsieng Chen Chan, Taiwan's unofficial ambassador to the Philippines, said the suspended air agreement talks could resume in two or three months.

He said the "cooling off period" will allow Taiwanese aviation authorities to study the claims of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) that they have violated the interim agreement signed last Jan. 2.

Chan added that they do not want any misunderstanding so as to maintain the good relations between the two countries.

He said the interim air agreement applies only between Taipei and Manila and gives Eva Air and China Airlines (CAL) the right to fly out of Kaohsiung to Manila.

Flights between Manila and Taipei, suspended for four months, resumed last February after the interim agreement was signed.

The interim agreement provides that CAL and Eva Air could resume their flights to Manila and could transport a maximum of 4,800 passengers from Manila to Taipei.

The same agreement allowed PAL seven flights a week.

Shortly thereafter, CAL applied to operate the Kaohsiung-Manila route which CAB rejected, creating hitches in the forging of a permanent air agreement between the two countries.