Mainland researchers and officials predicted Tuesday that major
progress will be made in establishing the three direct links across
the Taiwan Straits this year.
Their optimistic forecast was partially fuelled by the first flight
of a Taiwanese civil plane to the mainland in 54 years on Sunday.
The aircraft flew Taiwanese businessmen home for the Spring
Festival holidays.
Xu
Shiquan, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing's growing
flexibility and pragmatism is set to give an impetus to the
realization of trade, transport and postal services between Taiwan
and the mainland.
Barriers out in place by the Taiwan authorities seem to be of
diminishing value in hindering the inevitable trend of establishing
the three links, he added.
"The open and sincere attitude adopted by the mainland will
undoubtedly inspire growing calls from within the island for such
links and also create a favorable atmosphere for related talks," Xu
said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.
"Moreover, the Taiwan authorities led by Chen Shui-bian will be put
under greater pressure to take more actions to achieve
rapprochement and reciprocate the mainland's goodwill and
kindness."
The researcher said opportunities will arise for making major
progress in realizing the three direct links if Taipei honors its
pledges to develop cross-Straits ties.
Chen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
said on January 1 that both Taipei and Beijing should prioritize
the creation of a platform that would lead to peace and
stability.
"The two sides can begin with such issues as negotiations, direct
transport and relevant economic and trade links,'' he said in his
New Year speech.
Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, one of the mainland's top policy-makers
on Taiwan affairs, clarified Beijing's open-minded proposal for
dealing with the three links on January 24 in a bid to jump-start
related dialogue.
"Talks about opening the three links are not political negotiations
and may not touch upon the political meaning of one China," he said
at a seminar to mark the eighth anniversary of President Jiang
Zemin's eight-point proposal on developing cross-Straits
relations.
Yang Guoqing, deputy director of the General Administration of
Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), told a similar seminar Tuesday that
the successful implementation of the landmark indirect
cross-Straits charter flight scheme has fully demonstrated the
mainland's sincerity and kindness.
Despite the lack of co-operation from the Taiwan side, the CAAC
approved 16 indirect charter flights operated by six Taiwanese
airlines between Shanghai and the island between January 26 and
February 10.
The mainland's flexible and pragmatic move, which contributed to a
historic breakthrough in cross-Straits air links, will actively
push forward real direct transport links between the two sides,
Yang said.
He
expressed hope that more chartered passenger and cargo flights
across the Straits can be arranged this year in the wake of the
Spring Festival plan.
An
Min, vice-minister of foreign trade and economic co-operation, said
Taiwan and the mainland are both members of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and this will provide opportunities and
conditions for solving the problem of the three links.
"In line with the WTO principle of non-discrimination, Taiwan
authorities should open the three cross-Straits links and abandon
discriminative restrictions against the mainland,'' An said.
Taiwan became the 144th member of the global trade body on January
1 last year, under the title of the "Separate customs territory of
Taiwan, Penghu, Jinmen and Matsu'' -- or "Chinese Taipei'' for
short -- following the entry of the Chinese mainland in
December.
But it has yet to ease its rigid trade restrictions against the
Chinese mainland, which threaten to undermine the prospects for
closer economic integration across the Straits.
An
said the mainland's fast-developing economy and its huge business
potential will benefit the island in reviving its flagging
economy.
"So we hope the Taiwan authorities will set up the three direct
links at an early date, develop cross-Straits trade exchanges in a
bilateral and direct way and expand the scope for bilateral
economic co-operation in the new year," he said.
(China Daily January 29, 2003)