With coming of the Chinese New Year, the Taiwan businessmen's appeal to fly home via charter flights soars again. At the beginning of 2005, the spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made remarks on this issue, in which he hoped both sides would meet the demands of the Taiwan businessmen and airlines companies under the principle "mutual participation, round trip, direct flight that can ply several places in China's mainland".

Charter flight, an outcome of special treatment

In 2003, both sides across the Straits fulfilled Taiwan businessmen's desire to go home for the Spring Festival via charter flight for the first time. This was an outcome of mainland's special treatment and active efforts from all walks of Taiwan. It is a solution under the status quo of the cross straits.

The successful operation of the charter flights has eliminated Taiwan people's concerns for "dignity, safety and reciprocal treatment", thus creating favorable condition for direct flight across the Strait, remarked Zhang Xiaoyan, an active promoter of the holiday charter flights and the President of the Taiwan Merchant Development Council.

At the beginning of 2004, the Taiwan businessmen were disappointed again because the Taiwan authority insisted the charter flights should stop at a third place and made resumption of talks between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Straits Exchange Foundation a precondition for charter flights.

Charter flight, a need of millions of Taiwan businessmen

It is said there are millions of Taiwan businessmen who invest in the Chinese mainland. Statistics show there are hundreds of thousands Taiwanese businessmen in the Yangtze River delta, who frequently travel between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan for business and family. They have not only suffered travel fatigue but also spent a lot of money and energy. "Making the journey home not so long" has become a common desire of the Taiwan businessmen.

"Many of them have been awaiting direct flight across the Straits for so long that their hair turn gray. I'm afraid Taiwan's airplanes designated for direct flights have gotten rusty. The direct flight across the Straits has long been a wish among the Taiwan compatriots who invest, work and live at the mainland," said Ye Huide, president of the association for Taiwan enterprises in Shanghai.

The charter flights have not resolved the problem at the root though it alleviates the difficulties for the Taiwan businessmen's returning home, said Xie Kunzong, president of the association for Taiwan enterprises in Beijing. He hoped the charter flights would be direct and round- trip flights that can ply multiple places in the mainland.

With millions of Taiwan compatriots entering and leaving the mainland, the time and cost saved will be immeasurable provided direct flight saves 10,000 new Taiwan dollars for every Taiwan compatriot per round trip.

Airlines operators are active

In fact, the airlines enterprises have made full preparations for direct flights across the Straits. The airline companies in Taiwan like China Airlines, Eva Airlines, TransAsia Airways, and the Far Eastern Air Transport have all set up offices in the mainland. These airline companies say the Spring Festival charter flight can be taken as a warm-up exercise for the direct flight in the future. The direct flight is like a "cardiotonics" for the Taiwan airlines industry. It no only brings business opportunities for industries in Taiwan, but also promotes economy of Taiwan.

The airplanes can take off at any time, said Guan Siping, representative of the Far Eastern Air Transport of Taiwan at the Beijing Office.

He hoped the charter flight for the Spring Festival would become a common flight, and charter flights for the Qingming Festival and the Mid Autumn festival were to be made common flights too.

The Taiwan Chinese Airlines appeared prudent compared with the above two airlines. Its representative gave the journalist a phone number of its spokesperson in Taipei.

Following the remarks of the spokesman with Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Spring Festival charter flight has once again become hot topic for media across the Straits. Every column on Taiwan's newspapers is filled with articles about the issue now.

Strive for direct flight across the Straits

Some prominent figures in industrial and commercial groups of Taiwan have expressed their hope to make further progress on the basis of 2003, thus making the Taiwan businessmen and their families able to travel more conveniently and promptly between the mainland and Taiwan. They appealed to make charter flights for Mid Autumn Festival and the Qingming Festival ordinary flights too.

As a solution to meet special demands at a special time, charter flights will by no means meet the practical demands of the people across the Straits. It only helps solve needs at a certain time and is far from people's expectation for direct flight. Direct flight is the fundamental solution to the problem across the Straits. However, the Taiwan authority has used direct flight as a card, by which it will get some profits and reach its objectives.

If the charter flight were realized, it would be a progress on the basis of the previous holiday charter flight and would serve as a model for the future's direct flight, said Liu Hong, a researcher with the Research Institute of Taiwan Affairs with Chinese Academy of Social Science.

Under the current circumstances, the direct flight can hardly be realized even though the Chinese mainland has made great efforts and shown sincerity and good will, for Taiwan authority's lack of sincerity is the directest hindrance. The direct flight will not be realized until the Taiwan authority removes the obstacles.

Editor: Olivia