By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-03 08:56

Given the tension in cross-Straits relations over the past eight years with the Democratic Progress Party's (DPP) control of Taiwan, many have been relieved to see warmer ties between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan with the Kuomintang's (KMT) return to power on the island.

KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung on Saturday said that "the sky has cleared after the rain", referring to cross-Straits ties on the last day of his landmark six-day visit to the mainland.

Few doubt that Wu's trip will help generate more cross-Straits interaction and goodwill in the coming months.

Signs are already pointing to the gearing up of people-to-people exchanges across the Straits after decades of isolation.

Talks between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and its Taiwan counterpart Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) have already been scheduled for resumption between June 11 and 14.

Taiwan media reports have also predicted that an initial agreement, granting the final approval for cross-Straits weekend charter flights and the approval of more mainland tourists to visit the island by July 4, would be inked on June 13.

Similarly, a 70-member Taiwan sports delegation is expected to attend the Beijing Olympics in August and enjoy the home advantage with numerous mainland audiences becoming voluntary cheerleaders for the group.

Foremost on many minds over cross-Straits relations is still the issue of direct flights and the exchange of tourists, which analysts have described as the one people are most concerned about and the one that can be most easily resolved.

Statistics showed that more than 5 million Taiwan people visited the mainland last year, nearly half of the total number of the island's outbound travelers.

All Taiwan people bound for the mainland previously had to land in a third location, usually Macao or Hong Kong, before flying to their mainland destinations. Such an arrangement was said to have made communications tiresome for travelers across the Straits, particularly for the 1 million Taiwan businesspeople working on the mainland.

The weekend charter flight scheme is said to address these concerns.

Currently, there are four mainland cities selected for the scheme - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen.

Experts say that the charter flights, expected to eventually expand to daily direct flights, could also help boost the island's economy.

The direct flights would immediately improve the passenger load of the island's airlines and reduce the pressure of rising costs from crude oil prices, said Sun Shengliang, an expert with the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

They could also help improve the role of the island's airlines in the whole Asian market, by serving as the transit station for outbound mainland tourists.

Similarly, the direct flight scheme will facilitate more communication between Taiwan and mainland cities, particularly Shanghai and those in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, Sun said.

Consequently, flight routes among these destinations are expected to become popular with Taiwan and mainland airlines.

The entry of mainland tourists into the island is also expected to boost the island's economy, with tourism-related industries now becoming popular areas of investment in Taiwan.

KMT chairman Wu said that, while there might be a long way to go in the development of the cross-Straits relationship, "when communication begins, people cross the Straits will feel the benefits of such communication and they would naturally choose the next step to take".

Cross-Straits talks on technical issues including direct flights are apparently not seen as the final objective in relations, as the public expects the talks to develop into discussions on political issues.

On May 28, Wu met with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hu Jintao, the highest level of contact between the two sides in the past six decades.

President Hu had pledged in that meeting that institutionalized cross-Straits talks should resume based on the "1992 consensus" and mutual trust.

Hu also suggested that problems concerning the international role of Taiwan should be discussed, with a special mention of the issue regarding Taiwan's entry into the World Health Organization.

The offer, which many did not expect in view of the current stage of cross-Straits ties, has generated great expectations from the public and experts.

Wu reiterated in the interviews that exchanges between the KMT and CPC will continue to play an important role in the relations across the Taiwan Straits.

While the inter-party platform between the CPC and KMT has played a significant role in smoothening cross-Straits ties in the past few years, there have been concerns regarding its role vis--vis the ARATS and SEF in talks.

The platform between the CPC and KMT is vital to peaceful development across the Straits and will not collide with the talks between ARATS and SEF, Wu said.

"The two channels are just like two legs of one people, and will help and benefit each other," he said.

The inter-party platform has played a role in stabilizing and coordinating the two sides to avoid deadlocks during the lowest point of cross-Straits relations, Wu said.

"Now, we should play a more active role as the situation has become favorable," said Wu, adding that the two sides share the view that it is "a pity to give up such a good platform".

"We (the parties) are just helping to push forward the interaction of the two sides, while it remains for ARATS and SEF to discuss detailed affairs," Wu said.

The mainland side has also voiced their support for the inter-party platform. Yang Yi, spokesman for the CPC Central Committee's Taiwan Work Office, told reporters that the platform will continue to play a role.

Analysts also believe that inter-party talks will help improve relations, especially at time when technical talks are said to be deadlocked.

Li Yihu, professor with School of International Relations at Peking University, said that as the SEF was disabled during the rule of the DPP in Taiwan over the past eight years, the inter-party platform has become an effective mechanism for formal communications. A lot of policies benefiting the Taiwan people have also been announced through the platform.

Leaders of both sides have already mentioned that mutual trust and sincerity are the backbone for sustainable cross-Straits talks.

Since the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou won the island's leadership election in March, the two sides have conveyed their sincerity over the issue on various occasions. Wu's current visit has continued to showcase the KMT's sincerity in improving cross-Straits relations.

Upon arriving in Nanjing, the first leg of his six-day visit, Wu proposed at the airport during his welcoming ceremony that a minute's silence should be observed as a form of respect for the victims of the May 12 Sichuan quake.

Wu said the Taiwan people deeply felt the pain and grief of the victims, while their care and support for the afflicted showed their love for their compatriots.