The Taipei Times reports on the growing closeness of Taiwan and PRC ties:
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) assured the public yesterday that the government’s plan to open straighter air routes across the Taiwan Strait would not undermine national security.
Ministry spokeswoman Lisa Chi (池玉蘭) said the ministry had contributed its professional assessment to the plan and suggested that the air routes should not involve any direct flights across the median line in the Taiwan Strait.
…
The new routes, which will dispense with the detours through a third area, are expected to shorten the flying time between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai from 150 minutes to 67 minutes.A more direct Taoyuan-Beijing flight would take two-and-a-half hours, 75 minutes less than the current time, and a Taoyuan-Xiamen flight would take one hour, 30 minutes less than it does now.
