3rd Cross-Strait Forum to end on Apr. 29

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-29-2007 11:39

The third cross-strait economic, trade and cultural forum will end on Sunday. About 500 participants from the mainland and Taiwan have attended the two-day forum to build stronger ties across the Strait.

Trade ties are a hot topic at the forum. Cooperation has surged in the past few years, with cross-strait trade reaching 100 billion US dollars, or more than 800 billion yuan, last year. And in 2006, Taiwan residents made over 4.4 million trips to the mainland. While mainland residents made 200-thousand trips to Taiwan during the same period.

Participants called for direct transport services to boost economic ties across the strait.

Tseng Yung-Chuan, director of KMT Policy Committee, said "Weekend charter flights will save time, energy and money for travelers across the strait and promote economic development."

Education is another big issue. The central government adopted several policies to encourage Taiwan students to enroll on the Chinese mainland. Currently around six-thousand Taiwan students study on the mainland.

But students from the mainland still can't study in Taiwan, because of barriers set up by island authorities.

Yang Kuo-Shih, former president Taiwan Chiayi University, said, "The mainland has shown its goodwill with scholarships for Taiwan students. We hope Taiwan will follow the mainland's example."

Participants also urged the Taiwan authorities to promote tourism and allow mainland tourists to visit the island. Non-governmental tourism organizations on the mainland and Taiwan have conducted five rounds of talks since October and reached consensus on major technical issues. But no final agreements have been reached.

Participants say they hope the Taiwan authorities will follow the will of the people and adopt a practical and positive attitude in solving the remaining problems.

Editor:Du Xiaodan