Direct cross-strait flights, shipping and mail services were launched yesterday, with the first flight to China taking off from Taipei at 8am.
TransAsia Airways flight GE332 left Taipei Songshan Airport with 144 passengers and landed in Shanghai at 9:50am.
China’s first direct flight to Taiwan was a Shenzhen Airlines plane that arrived at Songshan Airport at 8:45am.
TransAsia was the only carrier offering direct flights from Songshan airport to destinations in China. China Airlines and Eva Airways will fly aircraft with twice the capacity out of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Mail will arrive on average one day earlier than before, Chunghwa Post Co deputy general manager Chen Tsi-te (陳賜得) said. Chen said the company had signed contracts with China Airlines and Eva Airways to transport parcels on direct flights.
Meanwhile, at Kaohsiung Harbor, direct shipping links got underway at 10am, when the Uni-Adroit, a full-container ship owned and operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp, set sail for Tianjin.
Two cargo ships also departed Tianjin and were scheduled to arrive at Kaohsiung and Keelung ports within 48 hours — cutting an estimated 18 hours off the journey.
Presiding over the launch ceremony in Kaohsiung, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he was pleased about the establishment of the links, adding that he had published a white paper on direct air and shipping links 16 years ago when he was vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).
Ma said he was satisfied that air and shipping transport links across the Taiwan Strait had been launched only six months and 15 days into his administration.
“The opening of direct air and shipping links means the two sides are no longer hostile toward each other and are willing to replace confrontation with dialogue and conflict with reconciliation,” he said.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) attended an inauguration ceremony at Keelung Harbor, where container vessels from Wan Lai Lines Ltd, Yang Ming Group, Taiwan Navigation Co and the China-based Fujian Huarong Marine Shipping Co were scheduled to leave for China.
The companies launched the vessels at around 10:35am after the Keelung Harbor Bureau released balloons and boats anchored next to each container vessel shot water into the air to celebrate.
“I can’t describe how grateful and joyful I am to witness these four container vessels turning a new page in the country’s history,” Liu said at the ceremony.
Direct cross-strait shipping will benefit not only China-based Taiwanese businesses and shipping companies, but also the public at large, Liu said.
“For passengers, if you board a vessel at 8pm, you will be in mainland China when you wake up the next morning. [It will] also cut costs for businesses. A 20,000-tonne cargo ship will save around NT$200,000 per trip from Keelung to any port in China’s Fujian Province,” Liu said.
Liu said direct shipping would also help businesses tap into the Chinese market.
“Transporting Taiwanese fruit and seafood to China via direct shipping will be faster. I believe that Taiwanese food products will be very popular in mainland China, especially after the contaminated milk food [scandal],” Liu said.
On regulations that will see ships remove their national flags before anchoring at their destination, Liu said: “Both sides of the Strait agreed to remove their flags when vessels enter the territory of the other side to put aside political disputes,” Lai said.
Lai said the purpose of launching direct air and sea links was to help Taiwanese make a profit in China and not to “pay tribute to China” as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had said.
The Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait signed four agreements on Nov. 4 to expand transportation and postal links and address food safety issues.
The agreements took effect by default after one month despite failing to complete a legislative review.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said there was no need for the legislature to complete second and third readings of the agreements since they had already taken effect.
The agreements took effect in accordance with Article 95 of the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), and the regulation was set up under the previous DPP government, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said.
The Article states that “the competent authorities shall request the consent of the Legislative Yuan before permitting direct business transactions or direct sea or air transportation between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, or permitting the people of the Mainland Area to enter into the Taiwan Area to work, and if the Legislative Yuan fails to adopt any resolution within one month after the request during its session, the consent is deemed granted.”
Meanwhile, academics said yesterday the links were neither strictly beneficial nor harmful.
“The big three links are neither a cure nor poison for Taiwan; they are a tool,” said Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), a professor at Tamkang University’s Institute of China Studies.
“The goal is first to enhance Taiwan’s investment environment and improve its economy,” he said.
Chang said direct links were only the first step.
“There are people and businesses who will benefit from them directly, those that will benefit in the short term and those that will only see benefits in the long term. There are also businesses that will be hurt. While airlines, shipping companies and business travelers will see immediate gains, [their gains] are not [the most important],” Chang said.
The government should think about how to enhance the nation’s competitive edge with investors, he said.
The links can connect Taiwan to the global economy, he said. With direct links, investors will not be forced to base their upper, middle and downstream operations in China, he said.
“Considering the social and economic developments in the two countries, businesses can divide sectors of their operations and place those with more added value in Taiwan,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DPP said yesterday in a press statement that the implementation of direct links had harmed Taiwan in four ways.
It said the failure to receive legislative approval had harmed the nation’s democracy. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government ignored the legislative branch and democratic principles, the statement said.
The party said the four agreements were signed within the “one China” framework and had put the nation’s sovereignty at risk.
Direct flights and allowing Chinese vessels at the nation’s ports will endanger national security, it said.
The party said diseases and substandard food products would pose a greater risk with less strict control mechanisms under the new links.
The DPP said the KMT government only spoke about the economic benefits brought by closer economic exchanges, but failed to discuss potential problems.
The agriculture sector and labor market will be hit hard by the dumping of Chinese products and the relocation of more factories to China, it said.
Small and medium businesses would also be increasingly under threat, the party said.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference the legislature was a symbol of sovereignty. That the agreements were enacted without its approval was equivalent to belittling the nation’s sovereignty, he said.
DPP lawmakers said the KMT stalled the review of the agreements to prevent them from going to a vote.
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