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SCMP Reporter

Beijing, Taipei to open bureaus, boost travel
The mainland and Taiwan have agreed to open semi-official representative offices on each other's soil  as part of a series of initiatives to put an end to tense cross-strait relations.
Resuming talks yesterday after a nine-year freeze, the two sides also reached an agreement on details on the introduction of regular weekend cross-strait chartered flights and the opening up of Taiwan to mainland tourists.
In their historic meeting yesterday morning, Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Chiang Pin-kung and the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (Arats) chairman Chen Yunlin  also agreed on a mechanism for communication between leaders  in case of emergency, and the resumption of regular visits between the two organisations.
In discussing the setting up of representative offices in Taipei and Beijing, which will make it possible for residents of both sides to apply for visas directly to these offices instead of going through Hong Kong, the two sides went beyond the original set agenda for the talks.
Pang Chien-kuo,  SEF deputy secretary general, confirmed that in future Hong Kong would no longer be needed for visa applications.
'Mainland tourists now have to go to Hong Kong to apply for visas. Now we hope to make it more convenient for them by setting up the offices,' Mr Pang said.
According to Mr Chiang, Mr Chen floated the idea of asking China Travel Service - the mainland's key travel agency - to set up an office in Taipei to handle visas but that was turned down by the Taiwan side in favour of an Arats office.
There will be 18 regular direct weekend charter flights and such services will be open to any travellers - not just mainlanders and Taiwanese - with a valid visa. A daily limit of 3,000 mainland tourists was also set in the initial stage and the two sides have agreed to increase the frequency of the charter flights and number of tourists as demands grow.
Both measures are expected to become effective on July 4 - a date proposed by new Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou  shortly after he won the election in March.
Mr Chiang last night said the number of flights and stops would be gradually increased after the Beijing Olympics.
'Mr Chen said the mainland wanted to make this a success, but safety has to come first, especially before the Olympics. There should not be any safety glitches,' he said.
In yesterday's talks, the Taiwanese side also expressed hope that discussions could begin shortly on joint exploration of gas and oil fields in the Taiwan Strait, direct sea freight,  joint efforts to combat crime and co-operation in climate change responses.
The next round of SEF-Arats talks was tentatively set for later this year, and Mr Chiang yesterday invited Mr Chen to visit Taiwan before the end of the year.
Mr Chen said he would visit Taiwan at an 'appropriate time' but did not specify when.
The meetings at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse mirrored the historic 1993 meeting in Singapore between the then SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu and his mainland counterpart Wang Daohan .   That meeting was hailed as the first breakthrough in cross-strait ties in more than four decades and raised hopes of talks on reunification between the two sides.
However, strained relations in recent years led to the SEF-Arats dialogue being halted for almost 10 years.
In Taipei, Mr Ma hailed the talks in Beijing as a 'big stride'.
'In terms of development of cross-strait ties, although the negotiation between SEF and Arats appears to be a small step forward, to us it is actually a big stride, like [Neil] Armstrong landing on the moon,' Mr Ma said at a meeting with an American visitor.
'The two sides need to institutionalise their negotiation mechanism and seek further stability across the Taiwan Strait. The new government always wants to send a message to its neighbouring nations that we are a peace maker,' he added.
In Hong Kong, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma Si-hang  said   most Taiwanese visitors came to Hong Kong for transit and the availability of direct charter flights would not have a significant impact on the city's tourism revenue.



Office deal bolsters cross-strait thaw