China and Taiwan Start Scheduled Charter Flights

Also read these stories:

WHAT'S NEWS

• Foreign Policy Boosts Biden

• Wachovia Unloads Troubled Loans

• Russia Tightens Its Grip

• Growth Wanes for India's Tech Titans

• Battle to Succeed Musharraf Heats Up

2. Congress Passes Fewest Laws, Most Resolutions

3. Opinion: Obama's Tax Plan Is Really a Welfare Plan

4. Amateur Scientists Seek Fusion Reaction

5. Opinion: Talk About Audacity!

China and Taiwan Start
Scheduled Charter Flights

By TING-I TSAI
July 5, 2008; Page A8

TAIPEI -- China and Taiwan began the first regularly scheduled nonstop flights between them in nearly 60 years, a significant step toward easing tensions and enhancing ties between the two longtime adversaries.

The new weekend charter flights, the first of which took off Friday, are part of a burgeoning detente across the Taiwan Strait since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May. The two sides have also agreed to a sharp increase in the number of Chinese tourists allowed to go to Taiwan -- the first group of which arrived on the island Friday as well.

Associated Press

China Southern Airlines Chairman Liu Shaoyong flew the plane that linked Guangzhou to Taipei.

While important disagreements persist, many analysts believe the trend could lead to greater stability in the often volatile China-Taiwan relationship, and provide a boost to Taiwan's economy.

The flow of investment and tourism from Taiwan to China has mushroomed over the past two decades. But with a ban on direct flights, travelers had to make time-consuming detours through third locations such as Hong Kong. Under a deal reached last month, after years of on-and-off negotiations, a total of 36 nonstop flights will go each weekend between Taiwan and five Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The small number of flights under the current arrangement means the immediate impact will be limited. Some have complained that the flights are too expensive -- a round-trip ticket from Taipei to Beijing costs about $700. The current flights also must pass through Hong Kong airspace to meet security concerns of Taiwan's government, meaning they're still slower than direct flights would be. But they are also faster than existing flights -- travel time between Taipei and Shanghai is halved, to about three hours from six hours.

As many as a million of Taiwan's 23 million people are estimated to live and work in China at least part of the year. But in the short term, tourists are likely to be the major customers for the weekend charter flights. Eventually, Taiwan is hoping to have as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists arrive daily. Officials said about 750 Chinese tourists were to be on the first charter flights from China to Taiwan Friday.

Underscoring the differences in political freedom that still divide the two sides, the first tourists were met at the airport in Taiwan by demonstrators including Tibetan independence activists and members of Falun Gong, the spiritual group banned in China. Some of them shouted: "Welcome Chinese to breathe the free air in Taiwan."