TAIPEI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The weekend charter
flights carrying mainland tourists across the Taiwan Straits contributed to the
peaceful development of the cross-Straits relationship and opened a new page in
the Chinese nation's prosperity, said Chinese Kuomintang honorary chairman Lien
Chan on Saturday.
"We had been waiting for the day for almost 60 years,
and had gone through some difficult periods," said Lien in a meeting with Shao
Qiwei, chairman of the Cross-Straits Tourism Communication Association (CSTCA)
here on Saturday.
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Shao Qiwei (1st L), chairman of the Cross-Straits
Tourism Communication Association (CSTCA) of the Chinese mainland, speaks
after presenting a gift to Chinese
Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan (C) and
his wife Lien Fang-yu, in Taipei of southeast China's
Taiwan Province July 5, 2008. Shao paid a visit to
Lien on Saturday. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
He
said it was appropriate for the media to describe weekend charter flights and
the arrival of mainland tourists in Taiwan as "epoch-making".
The two events would benefit compatriots on both
sides, stimulating consumption and the economy in Taiwan, while improving mutual
understanding, said Lien.
They would help cultivate harmonious attitudes,
strengthen ties and deepen collaboration.
Shao Qiwei thanked Lien Chan for the contribution he
had made to cross-Straits exchanges and the development of the relationship.
He said it took him just three hours and 40 minutes
to fly from Beijing to Taipei. It would have taken two hours less from
Guangzhou.
"All of us felt that compatriots on both sides of the
Straits were so close to each other," Shao said.
He said tourism industries on both sides should take
responsibility for providing good services to mainland tourists traveling to
Taiwan. "We have to make our own contribution to cross-Straits peaceful
development."
At the meeting, Shao outlined the development of the
mainland's tourism industry and invited Lien Chan and his family to tour the
mainland.
