Editorial: No clear flight path to direct links

A China Airlines plane landed at Shanghai's Pudong Airport on Sunday, opening a new chapter in transportation links across the Taiwan Strait. Although it was just a charter flight, it was the first civilian airplane contact between the two sides in half a century and therefore historically significant.

But this small step is still a long way from direct transportation links. After all, the flight only carried Taiwanese home for the Lunar New Year holiday, no Chinese airlines are involved in the charter program and the planes leaving China still have to land in Hong Kong. The only difference between the charter flights and the usual route of flying to Shanghai via Hong Kong or Macau is that passengers do not have to change planes -- or even get off the plane. But the charters are hardly direct flights.

This model is inconvenient, but it was a compromise made by the government on the basis of humanitarianism, convenience and national security. Truly, direct flights are unlikely anytime soon because the two governments would actually have to sit down and iron out procedures and rules. But China continues to set preconditions and wants Taiwan to disarm before any talks on direct links can begin. This is not acceptable.

At a recent conference in China commemorating the eighth anniversary of President Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) "Eight Points," Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) stressed that direct links are an economic issue and that the two sides can negotiate the links without getting involved in politics. However, Qian also said such talks must be conducted under Beijing's "one China" premise.

China not agree to the holiday charters because it cares about the welfare of Taiwanese busi-nesspeople. The charters are simply another way for Beijing to use businesspeople to pressure Taiwan's government. But there can be no compromise on official or semi-official talks. Taiwan is not willing to accept Beijing's "one China" principle and China refuses to have any contact with Taiwanese officials.

China direct links can be handled between private entities or associations. But direct links involve matters that require the exercise of government authority. Only talks with at least some official format or talks conducted by parties authorized by the two governments can resolve these matters. The semi-official contact channel between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait has been frozen for quite a while. Until there is a thaw, it will be difficult to resolve many of the outstanding civilian issues troubling cross-strait affairs, much less political or military ones.

SEF Deputy Secretary-General Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏) was on the ground-breaking flight to Shanghai on Sunday. But Pudong Airport authorities kept him waiting for two hours on a visa matter, thereby keeping him out of the official welcoming ceremony. Such petty tactics do not bode well for the prospect of talks on direct links or any other issue.

Direct will cut costs and be convenient for businesspeople, but they are not a panacea for Taiwan's ills. Given China's unrelenting hostility toward Taiwan, direct links are still a major threat to the people of this nation.

Time time again the government has extended goodwill offers toward China. There has yet to be any sign of true reciprocity from Beijing. Until it is willing to agree to negotiations held on the basis of equal sovereignty and mutual respect, direct talks are unlikely and nothing less should be encouraged.