Taiwan's ties with the mainland are unlikely to see any significant improvements in the lead-up to the island's 2008 presidential election.
But officials from the ruling and opposition parties agree that non-political exchanges, including permission for increased numbers of mainland tourists to visit Taiwan, are expected to continue, despite dissenting voices from within the island.
'Although no breakthroughs are expected in cross-strait ties at least before the 2008 presidential polls, talks on charter flights and Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan are still under way,' said Chang Jung-kung, director of the main opposition Kuomintang's mainland affairs department.
Mr Chang said he expected the two sides to reach an agreement on the tourist issue before Lunar New Year, which this year falls on February 18. Tourist arrivals from the mainland are now strictly controlled and visitors must apply for special permits to visit the island.
Taiwan and the mainland have been discussing the issue for more than a year. Joseph Wu Jau-shieh, head of the Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council, recently confirmed that an agreement was expected within weeks that would allow up to 1,000 mainland tourists to visit the island every day.
But Mr Chang said that while the KMT was hoping to launch weekend charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, pro-independence fundamentalists were strongly against the proposal.
Hardline independence supporters, who object to Taipei dealing with Beijing, have expressed concerns that once the island allows weekly charter flights, they will hasten direct air links between the island and the mainland. Direct air links are one of the so-called 'three links' - along with trade and mail - that have long been a sensitive political issue in Taiwan.
