Taiwan, China to make landmark direct flights

Commercial jetliners from Taiwan and China flew non-stop across the narrow strait dividing the arch-foes yesterday for the first time in 55 years, raising hopes for permanent air links and better ties.

The first Taiwan and Chinese carriers were to begin temporary charter services from 8 a.m. (0000 GMT) to ferry Taiwan business people and their families home for the Lunar New Year on February 9, the biggest holiday in the Chinese-speaking world.

Taiwan has banned direct transport links with China since the Nationalists fled to the island in 1949 after losing the mainland to the communists in a civil war.

An estimated one million Taiwan people, or five per cent of its population, work or live in China and must transit in places such as Hong Kong when travelling between the two sides.