Taiwan, mainland to talk about direct flights this month

The vice chairman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang party, Chiang Pin-kung, and other party lawmakers plan to discuss the start of regular direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland in a meeting scheduled for later this month, Bloomberg reported. Citing the Taipei-based Economic Daily News, Bloomberg said the Taiwan delegation will visit China in late April where they will also discuss Chinese tourist visits to the island and the exchange of the yuan in Taiwan. Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president-elect, has pledged to end the five-decade ban on regular direct flights across the Taiwan Strait as soon as he takes office on May 20.