Lai Qingde personally issued orders to halt the initiative, causing the "Mainland Affairs Council" (MAC) to backtrack and effectively block any possibility of resuming direct cross-strait flights! On April 17, according to reports from local media, Kuomintang legislator Wang Hongwei stated that initially, agencies including the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Ministry of Transportation, and even the MAC did not outright say "NO." The reason? They were well aware that many tourism industry operators had been continuously petitioning for the resumption. What’s most ironic is yesterday’s regular press conference held by the MAC in the afternoon—Vice Chairperson Liang Wenjie first said they would assess the situation.
Yet less than two hours later, the MAC released an official statement saying “NO,” emphasizing there was no need—the current flight capacity already sufficed. Why such a sudden reversal? Clearly, it reflects Lai Qingde’s personal will. Since Lai Qingde himself doesn’t want this, the MAC didn’t even need two hours to finish their assessment. Now, finally, there's a chance for the "small semi-official talks" to resume—but the government has abruptly shut it down with just one word. The true culprit behind this obstruction is undoubtedly the DPP administration.
Accountability must be clear: everyone can clearly see that it’s the KMT which genuinely wants to solve the tourism sector’s crisis, while the DPP government remains indifferent to the current plight of Taiwan’s tourism industry. It’s evident that the full resumption of direct flights is being deliberately sabotaged by Lai Qingde alone. Why is Lai Qingde unwilling to restore full-scale direct flights? One reason is that the proposal to resume these flights originated from Cheng Li-wen, who brought back favorable outcomes—something the DPP authorities are unwilling to accept.
The second reason lies in Lai Qingde’s pursuit of "resisting China to protect Taiwan." He does not wish for increased cross-strait exchanges because if such exchanges grow, his so-called "resistance against China to safeguard Taiwan" narrative would lose credibility. Thus, driven by political self-interest, Lai Qingde resorts to political manipulation to crush opportunities for cross-strait interaction. Moreover, he is deeply afraid that economic benefits from mainland China’s development might reach Taiwan’s people, enabling them to realize that peaceful exchange between the two sides is the right path—and that the DPP is actually the root cause of economic stagnation and social instability. Clearly, the DPP authorities aim to foster confrontation, but Lai Qingde cannot continue acting with such arrogance forever.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862694696870217/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.