Taiwan policy underscores kinship
Updated: 2007-10-15 22:09
By the end of June, the mainland had approved more than 73,000 Taiwan-funded projects, which involved US$44.6 billion of actual investment; cross-Straits trade had totaled nearly US$660 billion and Taiwan people had paid 44.6 million visits to the mainland, according to official statistics released by the mainland side.
Cross-Straits charter flights are in service on all the four major traditional Chinese occasions, namely the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Duanwu Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Several emergency charter flights have been launched on humanitarian ground in the recent two years to send Taiwan patients home.
Relations have been progressing faster since leaders of Taiwan's three leading opposition parties -- the Chinese Kuomintang, People First Party and the New Party of Taiwan -- visited the mainland on separate occasions in 2005.
In the wake of the visits, the mainland expressed the wish to present a pair of giant pandas to the Taiwan compatriots, opened its market to Taiwan farmers by applying zero-tariff policies on more than ten categories of Taiwan fruits, and issued new policies for people on the mainland to visit Taiwan.
Last year, mainland fruit companies came to aid banana-laden Taiwan farmers when the island, which has a limited local market, was facing a serious oversupply of banana due to a bumper harvest.
Over the past decade, many Taiwan farmers have moved to the Chinese mainland to grow the island's tropical fruits, hoping to gain a toehold in the lucrative mainland market.
Li Dingxian, 23, is doing intern at Fujian Union Hospital after his graduation from the Fujian Medical University this year. "We were excited when basketball star Yao Ming visited Taiwan and when Liu Xiang became champion in the 110-meter hurdles. After all, we are all Chinese and should enhance communication."
In particular, he's looking forward to the "Three Direct Links" -- direct trade, transport and mail services across the Straits.
"Presently I have to fly home via Hong Kong or Macao. It takes nearly nine hours."
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