BEIJING — China offered on Wednesday to allow Taiwan to fly unlimited numbers of direct charter flights to the mainland in 2004 — if the island's government agrees to allow Chinese airlines to do the same the following year.
The latest proposal, which included several conditions that Taiwan is unlikely to accept, broke no striking new ground but was unusual in its specificity.
"I will promise to give Taiwan authorities permission to fly one-way from Taipei and Kaohsiung to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen," if Taiwan agrees to allow two-way chartered flights in 2005, said Pu Zhaozhou, an official with China's Civil Aviation Authority.
The long-standing dispute between Beijing and Taipei over exactly which charter flights can go where — and under what conditions — often ventures into arcane realms that are virtually indecipherable to casual observers.
But it is a particularly significant issue in the days leading up to Chinese New Year, when many Taiwan residents want to travel to see relatives on the mainland, and vice versa. The Chinese New Year is Jan. 22 in 2004.
The two sides split in 1949 when the Communist Party took control of the mainland after a civil war, and the vanquished Nationalists set up a government in Taiwan. Beijing lays claim to the island, which has operated for years as a sovereign nation.
Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun, the island's No. 3 ranking leader, said recently that Taiwan would be willing to allow Chinese airlines to fly some of the charter flights during the upcoming holiday.
But Yu said that before this happens, the two sides must hold negotiations on the terms of the flights. The premier also insisted that Taiwanese officials be included in the talks. He said Taiwan wouldn't allow members of the airline industry to represent the government.
Pu said despite Beijing's latest offer, it would be difficult to arrange Taiwanese charter flights to China in 2004.
"Because of the hindrance put forward by the Taiwanese authorities, chartered flights next year will meet with great difficulty," he said at a regular briefing. "It will be hard to accomplish."
But the Taiwanese government, responding to Beijing's longtime demand that the island endorse the "one-China principle," said China was the one holding up progress toward talks and opening transport links.
"The most important thing isn't each side's view of the nation's status," Taiwanese Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-long told reporters Wednesday. "The most important thing is China's mind-set. China's mind-set is still the biggest obstacle."