Taiwan compatriots want the earliest possible establishment of direct transportation with the mainland. This was the view voiced by Taiwan scholars at the 12th Cross-Straits Seminar held in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region last week.

The Taiwan authorities have said direct transportation must be realized in three stages. This is seen as a ploy to delay the Three Direct Links, regarded as obstacles to their split with China.

According to the statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, in the first half of the year, the cross-straits trade volume topped 25 billion US dollars. It's expected to exceed 50 billion by year's end. At present, there're 56 thousand Taiwan-funded enterprises on the Chinese mainland, with a total of contractual investment of 70 billion US dollars. Last year alone, the mainland received over 3 million Taiwan visitors. According to Taiwan statistics, the freight cost is tens of millions of new Taiwan dollars higher than direct transportation.

Some scholars say that over half of Taiwan compatriots and nearly 90 percent of Taiwan businesspeople want direct transportation as soon as possible.

(CCTV.com September 1, 2003)