Date : 13/06/2008
TOKYO, June 13 (KUNA) -- China and Taiwan signed historic agreements Friday
to allow mainland tourists to travel freely in Taiwan from next month and
begin cross-Strait weekend charted flights, China's state-run Xinhua News
Agency reported.
Chen Yunlin, chairman of the mainland-based Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), and Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the
Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), signed the agreement in
Beijing.
The agreement will see the first tourist group arrive in Taiwan on July 18.
"A maximum of 3,000 mainland tourists can travel to Taiwan every day," the
agreement says.
Currently, only 1,000 mainland Chinese tourists are allowed to travel to
the island, and passengers must fly via Hong Kong or another third location
except during limited holiday periods.
Under the aviation agreement, the service, scheduled to start from July 4,
will include 36 return flights for every weekend, from each Friday to the
following Monday, and the number will increase according to demand.
The agreements came one day after the ARATS and SEF resumed talks on
Thursday for the first time in nine years.
Established in the early 1990s, both SEF and ARATS are engaged in talks on
issues related to cross-strait exchanges, as China and Taiwan do not have
diplomatic relations.
The cross-strait negotiations were suspended in 1999 after Taiwanese
leaders began to openly suggest that it should formally be considered a
separate state. Their meeting comes after the chairman of Taiwan's
ruling Nationalist Party held a landmark talks in Beijing with Chinese
President Hu Jintao last month in the highest-level meeting in 60 years.
China and Taiwan separated after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still
sees Taiwan is part of its territory, and has threatened to use force if the
island moves towards declaring independence.
Taiwan's relations with China have been strained in recent years, as former
president Chen Shui-bian has pushed to formalize Taiwan's sovereignty.
But relations between the two sides have eased after Ma Ying-jeou was sworn
in late May as Taiwan's new president, who has pledged to improve ties with
China. (end)
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