| |
BEIJING: China called for renewed direct flights to Taiwan during the 2006 Spring Festival, but on an even larger scale than when they were launched under much fanfare early this year.
China made the appeal at a press conference conducted by the Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, attended mostly by journalists from China and Taiwan.
"For the 2006 flights, we call for increasing the number of passengers, adding more airports, shortening the routes, and upping the number of flights," said office spokesman Li Weiyi.
Li said China and Taiwan should enter into consultations "as early as possible" on chartered flights for the 2006 Spring Festival.
"We believe the 2005 Spring Festival flights were a very successful experience, and we would like to use it as a basis for providing even better service for the Taiwan compatriots," he said.
China and Taiwan this year agreed to chartered flights taking Taiwan businesspeople and their relatives to their home island to celebrate the traditional Spring Festival.
The flights were hailed as historic, because they were non-stop as opposed to earlier flights, which made brief stop-overs in Hong Kong or Macau.
Taiwan normally bans direct transport links with the mainland, only allowing exchanges with stops in third ports, and even the 2005 Spring Festival flights had to go through Hong Kong airspace, adding to the travel time.
Li's appeal for "shortening the routes" seemed to hint at doing away with this costly departure from a genuinely direct trip.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Economic ties, however, are thriving, and an estimated one million Taiwanese live in China, many of them hoping the flights could herald regular direct air and sea services.
|
|
|
