Taiwan considers cargo charter flights with China

Taiwan considers cargo charter flights with China

Deutsche Press-Agentur, Taipei

Taiwan, after launching passenger charter flights with China, is considering launching cargo charter flights with China to ease cross-Strait tension, a Taiwan newspaper said on Monday.

"After launching passenger charter flights for the Chinese New Year, authorities plan to launch passenger charter flights for the next festival, the Dragon Boat Festival. After that, they may allow cargo charter flights shorty afterwards," the China Times quoted Hu Sheng-cheng, chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, as saying.

"Cargo charter flights can cut the cost of Taiwan's export to China. It is particularly important for Taiwan's export of electronics products to China, which totals US$20 billion each year," he said.

"However, it is up to the Mainland Affairs Council to decide when to launch cargo charter flights," Hu added.

The Dragon Boat Festival is on July 11.

Taiwan and China launched passenger charter flights last Saturday to bring home Taiwan businessmen for the Chinese New Year festival, beginning Feb. 9.

The charter flights, between Jan. 29 and Feb. 20, has paved the way for launching more charter flights and even regular flights between Taiwan and China, split since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Taiwan has banned direct air, sea and postal links with China since 1949 for nationals security reasons, but under pressure from Taiwan businessmen and the public, Taipei has agreed to loosen and eventually drop the bans.

Since Taiwan allowed indirect trade with China in 1987, Taiwan's indirect trade with China via Hong Kong has tripled from $5.7 billion in 1988 to $23.7 billion in the first 11 months last year.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, has urged Taipei to remove the bans to pave the way for Taiwan's unification with the mainland.

President Chen Shui-bian said on Sunday the charter flights are a good start for improving Taipei-Beijing ties.

"We will continue to promote cross-Strait exchanges with goodwill and sincerity. I believe it won't be long before the door of cross-Strait reconciliation, cooperation and peace is opened," Chen told Taiwan reporters while visiting the Solomon Islands.

On Sunday, a China Times survey of 810 adults showed that 53 percent of those interviewed support launching regular flights with China.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, a leader of the pro-unification Chinese Nationalist Party and widely seen as one of the candidates for the 2008 presidential election, urged the government to further loosen the ban on direct air links with China.

"This is only a partial launch of direct flight. We should launch charter flights for other festivals or even for every weekend," he said on Sunday.