Taiwan flights start with a splash
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Hundreds of mainland Chinese tourists – some in matching white or pink shirts – arrived in Taiwan on Friday on the first regular commercial flights in nearly six decades between the old foes.
A China Southern Airlines flight carrying 230 passengers touched down at Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan, and firetrucks shot water at the first plane in a welcome gesture.
“From today onward, regular commercial flights will replace the rumbling warplanes over the skies of the Taiwan Strait, and relations between the two sides will become better and better,” pilot Liu Shaoyun said after the 90-minute flight from Guangzhou in southern China. Liu is also chairman of the Chinese airline.
The Chinese passengers walked through an arch made of colorful balloons amid traditional dragon dances and greetings from giddy Taiwanese officials.
The historic step – the result of diplomatic efforts by new Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou – is aimed at warming relations between the self-ruled island of 23 million and its powerful neighbor, which claims Taiwan as its territory.
Although Taiwan has allowed limited charter flights for holidays in recent years, the regular weekend service is a major step forward in normalizing travel between the rivals split amid civil war in 1949. Taiwan had barred direct travel to and from China for decades as a security measure, and most mainland tourists also were banned.
Before boarding an Air China flight to Taiwan from Beijing, Shao Qiwei, head of China’s Tourism Administration, said the regular flights will “build a bridge of friendship” with Taiwan’s 23 million “hospitable compatriots.”
“The start of mainland tourists … will create a scenic route across the strait,” Shao said at the Beijing airport.
A Xiamen Airlines flight later touched down at Sungshan airport in downtown Taipei, which opened to international traffic for the first time in three decades. The 100 passengers wore matching pink shirts.
Upon arrival, dozens of Chinese tourists launched straight into a sightseeing tour of Taipei’s grand Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, a red-tiled structure with a lotus-shaped roof and expansive gardens that honors a man revered both by Taiwanese and Chinese.
They posed for pictures and bowed to a statue of Sun flanked by two Taiwanese flags.
Sun led a revolution that overthrew China’s last emperor and ushered in a republic in 1912. He was also the founder of Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party, which was forced out of the mainland by the communists in 1949.
“I am very happy about my first visit to Taiwan,” said 55-year-old real estate agent Wen Jianxin from Guangzhou. “I have found Taiwan’s streets to be very clean and orderly. I am impressed.”
To avoid embarrassing scenes, Taiwanese officials have vowed to prevent confrontations between the visitors and anti-communist activists. Followers of Falun Gong, a group strongly opposed to the Chinese government, have ignored requests by the Tainan municipal government in southern Taiwan to stay away from several popular tourist sites.
Taiwan’s China Airlines also flew more than 300 Taiwanese on a charter flight to Shanghai earlier in the day.
Despite lingering tensions, trade and travel between the two sides have boomed over the past decade. Mainlanders have visited Taiwan under various cultural exchange programs in limited numbers and had to go first to Hong Kong or other destinations before traveling on to Taiwan.
Mainland authorities agreed to the tourist and regular flight links in talks with Taiwan last month, apparently hoping the increased regular contacts could help it push its goal of eventual unification.
The steps could also further push economic integration. The Ma administration has promised to ease investment restrictions to boost Taiwanese industries’ competitiveness. Thousands of Taiwanese have set up high-tech, textile and other factories in China to take advantage of lower labor costs.