Culture
11:28, 01-Feb-2018
Hundreds of flights canceled, leaving 50,000 people from Taiwan stranded in Chinese mainland
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Nearly 50,000 people from Taiwan have been stranded on the Chinese mainland after Taiwan civil aviation authorities canceled some 170 cross-Strait flights ahead of the Spring Festival.
Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council slammed the obstruction of additional cross-Strait flights by the Taiwan authorities for the Chinese New Year as “absurd.”
“Taiwan authorities, used as an excuse that China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen airlines are using the M503 flight route to obstruct the operation of the extra 176 cross-Strait flights. This is totally against the will of the people across the Taiwan Strait,” said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
The two Chinese mainland airlines had no choice. China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines announced on Tuesday they would offer full refunds or help with ticket changes. But this means most of them have to pay more, even double the initial cost.
“It’s a red-eye flight. And I have to work right after I come back to Shanghai at night. It’s a lot of money for me, to be honest. I never knew I had to spend so much money going back to Taiwan,” said Dr. Zhang Yuying from Shanghai Ruidong Hospital.
Many are worried that going back to Taiwan might be much more difficult in the future.
“We’re worried regular flights will be canceled in the future. We'll have to transit from Hong Kong to Taiwan, like many years ago. What we’re worried about more is this: maybe transferring from Hong Kong might not even be possible in the future,” said Dong Yanliang, a doctoral student in Shanghai.
Chinese authorities promised to take care of those who cannot make their way back home.
“We will do what it takes to help those stranded on the mainland to go back home. And for those who are not able to go back and have to stay on the mainland for the Spring Festival, we will make sure they are well taken care of here,” said Ma.
“The mainland authorities are treating us like family. They don’t want to leave their family, relatives or friends out there in the streets. Taiwan authorities are making such a simple thing so complicated. What we want is simple - we just want to go back home safely, ” said Qiu Rongli, head of Nietzsche International Education Institute based in Shanghai.
China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines announced Tuesday they were canceling a total of 176 extra flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan after the Taiwan civil aviation authority refused to give them the green lights.
But Taiwan authorities went on record saying the rejection was made out of security concerns over the south-to-north operation of M503 flight route, which opened on January 4, 2018, and faced strong opposition from Taiwan authorities.
Chinese authorities dismissed the remarks, saying the newly-opened route is “irrelevant” to the issue, not to mention that experts have confirmed the safety of the already coded route.