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.