TAIWAN'S participation in next week's East Asian Games in Shanghai has been jeopardised after Beijing's refusal to allow the Taiwan team to use a Hongkong airline for the Hongkong-Shanghai leg of the journey.
Taiwan delegation leader Mr Chan Teh-chi said the flight would have to be cancelled because the mainland had failed to agree to a proposal to charter a Hongkong plane to take the group to Shanghai.
Mr Chan and his delegation were to charter an aircraft from Cathay Pacific or Dragonair to Shanghai via Hongkong yesterday, but the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would have to refuse to allow the Hongkong plane to land because neither airline had the right to fly to Shanghai.
Instead, it asked that the team take a China Eastern Airlines plane. This proposal was rejected by authorities in Taiwan on the grounds that flying directly to China would violate Taiwan policy.
Mr Chan said he was contacting the mainland Olympics Committee to see if it could help smooth the issue.
But until arrangements can be made, it is unclear whether the Taiwan team can go to the Games.
