| |
BEIJING: The resumption of regular air services between mainland China and Taiwan on Friday marked a "new start" in relations between the long-time rivals, Beijing's top official on Taiwan said.
"Today is a new start in the history of exchanges between the two sides," Wang Yi, director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in Beijing.
A China Southern Airlines jet took off from the southern city of Guangzhou, bound for Taipei in the first direct air service between mainland China and Taiwan in almost six decades.
The plane, carrying 258 passengers, landed later to a red-carpet welcome, underscoring a dramatic recent thaw in ties.
Wang said the roughly 100 tourists on board the flight brought "profound friendship to the people of Taiwan."
"It does not matter how far away we are from each other or for how long we have been separated, we are all ... both of the Chinese nationality," he said.
The regular service, a key part of a campaign promise made by new Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou to quickly improve relations with Beijing, is the first since the two sides split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
But ties across the Taiwan Strait have improved markedly since the election of Ma, who has abandoned the pro-independence rhetoric of his predecessor Chen Shui-bian that infuriated China.
More than 700 Chinese nationals will travel on Friday to Taiwan from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and two other cities.
"At present, cross-Strait relations are facing a rare opportunity for development," Wang said.
"We must increase direct exchanges between people on both sides of the Strait and also increase mutual understanding."
- AFP/yb
|
