Tang Yi, deputy director of the Economic Bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, pointed out at a regular press conference on February 25 that he hoped civil aviation administrators of the two sides of the Straits would try as quickly as possible to continue their dialogs on the practice of charter flights during Qingming Festival (5th lunar term) and other traditional Chinese festivals in the same way as charter planes arranged for Taiwan businesspeople during the Spring Festival this year, so as to reach a consensus on the matter.

As regards cargoes charter flights consistently requested for by the Taiwan authorities, Tang Yi pointed out that the Chinese mainland is willing to have further exchange of opinions with Taiwan's corresponding civil business organization on the matter in the same way as the Spring Festival charter flights arranged this year in line with the principles of "common participation, cooperative operation, share in interests, reciprocity and win-win result".

This reflects the Chinese mainland's consistent attitude toward cross-strait exchanges. The Chinese mainland had long before indicated that it would try its best to do whatever thing that is in the interests of Taiwan compatriots and is conducive to promoting cross-strait exchanges, to the maintenance of peace in the region of the Taiwan Straits, to the development of cross-strait relations and to peaceful reunification. Based on this as the starting-point, the Chinese mainland has expressed its utmost sincerity on the issue of comprehensive realization of the aim of making cross-strait charter flights a regular practice.

The Taiwan authorities, however, have all along locked the plan for future cross-strait charter flights in cargoes charter flights. In September 2003, the Taiwan "Mainland Affairs Council" published the "facilitation measures for cargoes transportation", under which their planes wanted to unilaterally flow to the mainland under the circumstance without prior consultations with the mainland; after Chen Shuibian's "double 10th speech" last year, the Taiwan authorities worked out a "plan for cross-strait cargoes transport charter flights"; in January this year, Chiu Tai-san, vice-chairman of the "Mainland Affairs Council", indicated that efforts would be made to promote freight transport charter flights in the future, adding that "this is what we pay more attention to"; on February 16, Chen Shuibian said at the Taiwan businesspeople' Spring Festival dinner party: "It's hoped that cross-strait cargoes transport facilitation plan will be further promoted on the existing basis of Taiwan businesspeople Spring Festival charter flights."

For a long time in the past, the Taiwan authorities have always stressed freight transportation to the neglect of passenger transportation. Why did they do so? Firstly, freight transport charter flights can bring Taiwan economic benefits and thus increase the capital for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to boast of its achievement. Secondly, in the face of the people's growing resounding voice for direct flights, the Chen Shuibian authorities chose to adopt the method of the least openness, in order to relieve pressure and consolidate their power. Thirdly, cargoes transport charter flights, which do not include the exchange of personnel, have less influence on the Taiwan people.

The Taiwan authorities avoid mentioning passenger charter flights and try their utmost to obstruct putting this into practice. In the words of the Taiwan authorities, this is because passenger transport charter flights are more "difficult to operate" than freight transport charter flights, so they want to adopt the method of gradual opening by "putting cargoes transportation before passenger transportation" and "sea transportation before air transportation". However, as everybody knows, cross-strait charter fights do not involve technical problems, what the Taiwan authorities said about more "difficult to operate" is nothing but a pretext of "endangering Taiwan's security", etc.

As a matter of fact, what the DPP authorities are really fearful about is a possible expansion of cross-strait personnel exchanges following the launch of passenger charter flights. In that case, along with Taiwan people's deepening understanding of the Chinese mainland, they will discover that "Taiwan independence" is an unrealistic mythology, and this is obviously disadvantageous to the DPP that clings to the line for "Taiwan independence".

Cross-strait charter flights are originally an economic issue, to which, however, Taiwan authorities add too many political connotations, this represents an unbearable weight to charter flights. Such being the case, whether or not follow-up cross-strait charter flights, especially passenger transportation charter flights, can reach the goal, the key to which lies in whether the Taiwan authorities can give up their practice of boycotting cross-strait exchanges through the ideology of "Taiwan independence" and show their sincerity in really keeping the common people of the two sides in mind.

People of the two sides are related by flesh and blood and are originally of the same family. Taking advantage of the realization of Spring Festival charter flights to make cross-strait charter flights a regular practice represents an excellent opportunity for realizing the exchanges of personnel and cargoes and breaking the ice between the two sides of the Straits and peaceful reunification of the motherland, it is all the more the common desires of the people of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan as well as all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation.