Tourism talks on Strait flights

Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily  |   2008-6-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TAIWAN plans to send two senior officials to Beijing for talks on weekend charter flights and tourism this week, a Taiwanese official said yesterday.

The talks, from Wednesday to Saturday, will mark the first official dialogue between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait after Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated on May 20.

Ma promised by July he will start direct weekend charter flights across the Taiwan Strait and increase the number of mainland visitors to the island to bolster Taiwan's economy. Currently, direct charter flights between the two sides operate only on Chinese holidays.

Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian told reporters in Taipei yesterday he expects the talks to proceed smoothly.

"We expect to sign an agreement on Friday," Kao said, adding that this was also the first time Taiwan was sending officials at such a senior level for talks with the mainland.

Kao identified the two officials as Fu Don-cheng of the Mainland Affairs Council, and Oliver Yu of the transportation and communications authorities.

He said he and the two senior officials are included in a 19-people delegation led by his foundation.

Taiwan's hospitality industry is retooling for mainland tourists, from hiring extra tour guides to holding forums on how to handle mainland tourists' expectations.

The number of Taiwan airports involved in direct flights, which are designed to reduce time-consuming Hong Kong and Macau layovers, will drop from the eight reported earlier to four at first.