China and Taiwan agree to more flights
China and Taiwan have agreed to open the first permanent offices in each other’s capitals and to regularize flights between their territories in the biggest diplomatic breakthrough between the historic rivals in a decade.
Although the details were still being hammered out in two days of talks here scheduled to wrap up today, negotiators said that as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists per day would be permitted to take chartered weekend flights to Taiwan.
China’s official New China News Agency said that the flights temporarily would have to be routed through Hong Kong, but that direct flights could begin shortly.
Apart from major Chinese holidays, there have been no regular flights since 1949, when defeated Chinese Nationalists fled to the island across the Taiwan Strait. Although Taiwan is the largest investor on the mainland and about 4 million Taiwanese visit here each year, only about 160,000 mainlanders go to Taiwan.
They gave no date on when the offices might open. Their roles probably will be limited to administrative matters rather than political issues.
The breakthrough follows the March election of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who swept to power on promises of warming relations with the mainland. For the last eight years, tensions were inflamed by President Chen Shui-bian’s efforts to win Taiwan diplomatic recognition as an independent nation.
“The good momentum of cross-strait relations development is hard-won and we should cherish and nurture it,” the New China News Agency quoted Chinese negotiator Wang Yi as telling his Taiwanese counterpart as talks began Thursday.
Much of the deal was hammered out before the formal opening of the talks, and more progress is expected in coming months. Taiwan’s generous contribution of aid after the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province and the upcoming Beijing Olympics also have smoothed the way for resuming negotiations.
“Now the atmosphere is really different,” said Li Jiaquan, a retired Taiwan expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “It is like when the trench is ready, the water naturally flows.”
However, China and Taiwan have yet to tackle larger issues. The Taiwanese have said talks for a formal peace treaty could not begin in earnest unless China removed ballistic missiles aimed at the island.
--
Cathy Gao of The Times’ Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
