More than half of Taiwan's "parliament" members have petitioned the
local authorities to allow Taiwan airlines to run charter flights
to Chinese mainland as a step toward lifting the half-century ban
on direct air links across the Taiwan Straits.
Taiwan people now have to travel to the mainland through a third
airport, usually Hong Kong, adding extra time and expense.
In
the petition to Chen Shuibian's so-called "Cabinet", the 121
lawmakers suggested that charter flights be allowed between Taipei
and Shanghai at the end of next January, when about 300 thousand
Taiwan people working in the mainland are expected to return home
for the Chinese New Year.
In
recent years, the economic, trade and cultural contacts between
Taiwan and Tianjin have expanded rapidly. Many Taiwan merchants
begin noticing the impact on their businesses of trade, transport,
and mail links.
The Taiwan businessmen are calling for an early realization of the
three direct links, according to a report by CCTV, China's central
television station.
Shanghai now has more than 4,000 enterprises with investments from
Taiwan businessmen, amounting to a contracted value of 7 billion US
dollars.
In
the first eight months of this year, the city saw 800,000 exits and
entries made by Taiwan residents, up 20 percent from the same
period of last year, and a total of 200,000 items of mail crossing
to Shanghai.
While Taiwan businessmen feel at home in Shanghai, the only thing
that bothers them is the hindered communication across the
Straits.
Ye
Huide, a Taiwan businessman said: " Last year, 3.3 million entries
were made by Taiwan residents coming to the mainland for business
or sightseeing. If direct transport were possible, every person
would have saved 10,000 Taiwan dollars each. That amounts to 33
billion Taiwan dollars."
For the investors, time is money. If direct flight was possible, it
would take one hour to fly from Taiwan to Shanghai, instead of 4
hours via Hong Kong.
He
also said: "With direct transport, it takes only 3 days for cargo
to arrive, instead of the present 8. I have suffered great loss in
cost and time because I have to rent warehouses to store the goods
for a longer period of time."
Taiwan business people in Tianjin have also expressed their hope to
have the three direct links realized between Taiwan and the
mainland. Tianjin, a northern city, is one of the four
municipalities directly under the Chinese central government.
In
recent years, the economic, trade and cultural contacts between
Taiwan and Tianjin have expanded rapidly. Many Taiwan merchants
begin noticing the impact on their businesses of trade, transport,
and mail links.
This Taiwan compatriot says that around 1,500 Taiwan merchants have
launched their businesses in Tianjin with a total investment of 3
billion US dollars. Without direct links, he says, problems such as
slow circulation of money blocks their operation.
It
is estimated that around 15,000 Taiwan business people commute
between Taiwan and Tianjin every year. The realization of direct
links will greatly facilitate their business activities in the
mainland.
The President of the Taiwan Merchant Development Council, Zhang
Xiaoyan, has come up with his own scheme to implement direct air
links between Taiwan and the mainland, according to a report by
CCTV, Chinese central Television station.
He
plans to charter a Taiwanese plane to take Taiwan businessmen
operating in the mainland home for Chinese Lunar New Year
celebrations. Zhang says this will also be an opportunity to test
how sincere the Taiwan authorities are about implementing the
"three direct links."
Zhang plans to carry out his scheme during the 2003 Chinese spring
festival. He explained how he was going to go about his plan.
First, an unspecified Taiwan airline company will offer a chartered
airplane. The plane will then fly directly from Taiwan to Shanghai,
where it will pick up Taiwan businessmen and take them back home to
celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Speaking from experience, Zhang said that technically, it is a
workable plan. "It'll be much safer to help Taiwan businessmen
return to Taiwan during the spring festival period with chartered
airplanes. It won't involve any negotiations on navigating rights
before we can carry out the plan."
However, not everyone believes it's going to be this easy. The
mainland will help Taiwan civil airplanes fly into the mainland's
air zone, but the Taiwan authorities say Taiwan's airplanes will
have to make a detour when flying to the mainland.
Zhang said, "It takes time to free the Taiwan authorities of
apprehensions. As a matter of fact, a certain number of security
experts don't take this as a reasonable excuse at all."
Zhang also stressed that this will be a very humane scheme because
indirect air links mean only half of the 300,000 or so Taiwan
businessmen working on the mainland can fly back to Taiwan during
the spring festival. He also said more than 120 figures from
various political parties and groups are backing the plan. Zhang
will discuss his scheme in Beijing next month.
(
October 29, 2002)