Though they had been strong political rivals for over six decades, Taiwan and China have together decided to offer weekend charter flights on Friday. This move shall let millions of visitors tour the island, further giving way to a series of warming relations.

Between Taiwan and China, not less than thirty-six round trip routes are to open that shall eliminate unnecessary stopovers at Hong Kong or Macau, thereby simplifying group travel from both the sides. In 1949, the defeated nationalist forces fled to Taiwan amidst civil war and since then there have been no direct flights between these two countries on a regular basis except a few charters connecting the destinations on select holidays.

Last month, negotiators from both the countries agreed for weekend charter flights. They too decided that not less than 3,000 Chinese tourists a day to tour the island. Earlier, the tourists were seen as a security risk, but now they are seen as a source of money.

Li Peng, assistant Taiwan Research Institute director at Xiamen University in China said, "It will have positive meaning for relations between the two sides. Exchanges and encounters will increase, helping each side understand the other."

However, comments from the other side are also equally strong. Raymond Wu, a political risk consultant in Taipei said, "If overall the Chinese tourists deliver in terms of monetary expectations, these issues will be minor, but otherwise in three to six months you could hear some complaints, some backlash."