Beijing/Taipei (AsiaNews/SCMP) An agreement might be reached by the Lunar New Year to allow direct flights between Taiwan and Mainland China. Discussions to that effect have been going on for some time and might soon reach a positive resolution.
A delegation representing Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) opposition has in fact held a meeting with the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Yunlin.
After the meeting, Tseng Yung-chan, who led the KMT delegates, said that Chen was in favour of non-stop, two-way flights that would connect several cities.
More than a million Taiwanese live and work in Mainland China. Both people and capitals go back and forth between the two sides of the Strait of Taiwan.
Opening direct routes between the two is a goal both sides have sought for a long time, but have been unable to achieve for political and economic reasons.
In the beginning, a Taipei-Guangzhou route was envisaged since Taiwanese investments are heavily concentrated in this province. However, the plan failed because Beijing feared that Guangdong would become a privileged partner of Taipei.
The victory of Chen Shui-bian and his Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's April 2004 elections cooled relations between Beijing and Taipei.
China considers the Taiwanese president and his party traitors because they plan a referendum on Taiwan's independence. For this reason, the Chinese prefer to deal with Taiwan's opposition KMT.
Never the less, despite current tensions, China increasingly needs Taiwan's investments.
Chang Han-wen, former president of the Taiwan Businessmen's Association in Dongguan, said he was optimistic now that the KMT joined the negotiations. For him, a direct route would bring economic but also political benefits by lowering tensions.
Currently, travellers can only fly through Hong Kong or Macau wasting time and money.
According to Yeh Hu-te, president of the Taiwan Businessmen's Association, a "direct flight would save US$ 2,400".
Meanwhile, Chinese air carriers China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines are organising charter flights for the Chinese New Year.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian said that direct flights would be a step forward in the relations between the two countries. In a press conference, he said that "this represents an historic moment for the two sides to talk"
