■Direct links
Construction sector upbeat
The domestic construction sector expressed hope yesterday for direct links with China and urged the government to seize the opportunity to set up links as soon as possible. Lai Cheng-i (賴正鎰), chairman of the Taiwan Construction Development Federation, said that with the end of Saturday's Taipei and Kaohsiung mayor and council elections, the government now should move swiftly to establish direct trade, transport and postal links with China to stimulate the economy. According to Lai, the domestic business community has high expectations for the links, which are widely viewed as an effective way to attract tourists from across the Strait and to help boost industry, including the real estate market.
■ Airport
CAA rejects Sungshan
Although Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has won re-election as mayor of Taipei, his idea of making the city's Sungshan Airport a base for cross-strait flights is unfeasible because of technical problems, an aviation official said yesterday. Noting that whether the airport should be one of the airports used for cross-strait flights is a political question to be answered by the central government, Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政), director-general of the Civil Aero-nautics Administration (CAA), said that the airport is incapable of accommodating heavy flight traffic given that it has only one runway, no customs and no extra land for expansion. The airport's limited capacity is also the reason why it is used only for domestic flights, Chang said. The government favors an election proposal of the DPP's unsuccessful mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), who advocated the relocation of the airport to Taoyuan.
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