In the latest sign of warming cross-strait ties, a mainland cargo vessel is expected to dock this week at Taiwan's northeastern port of Keelung after a stop in Okinawa, Japan.
The vessel, said by Taiwan's China Times Express to be the 6,269-tonne Tungshun operated by the Shanghai-based Jinjiang Shipping Company, would be the first mainland ship to operate cross-strait cargo services via a third port since Beijing and Taipei officials held informal shipping talks in Bangkok on February 11.
The talks, held between private shipping associations from both sides, were attended by high-ranking transport officials from Taipei and Beijing acting as advisers.
The meetings were considered by observers to be a breakthrough after months of delays in opening the new cargo services.
It was also the first time the two sides had met on foreign soil.
The vessel was expected to depart Shanghai and make a stop at a small port in Okinawa to get around Taipei's decades-old ban on direct cross-strait shipping, before arriving at Keelung Harbour on Thursday, the newspaper said.
Officials at Taiwan's Uniglory Shipping Company were unavailable to confirm the reports yesterday.