Mainland and Taiwan start direct shipping service on Monday
2008-12-15 06:39:35 GMT2008-12-15 14:39:35 (Beijing Time)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chen Yunlin, China's top ranking official, left, Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan's Nationalist Party, third from left, and Chinese officials attend a ceremony in Tianjin, China, as the first cargo ship leaves Tianjin port to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008.(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Confetti and balloons fly after Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan's Nationalist Party and Chinese officials launched the first sea cargo transport from Tianjin to Kaohsiung at the Tianjin port, China, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Port workers and officials gather to witness the launch of the first sea cargo transport from Tianjin to Kaohsiung at the Tianjin port, China, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Confetti falls during a ceremony as cargo ships prepare to embark from the northern Taiwan harbor of Keelung on their first direct voyage to mainland China, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Taiwan's Yang Ming shipping company loads their containers on a ship leaving from the northern Taiwan harbor of Keelung on their first direct voyage to mainland China, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008.(AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Mainland China and Taiwan have started a new era of direct air and shipping services Monday with planes and ships travel directly across the Taiwan Strait, formally ending a nearly six-decade ban on regular links.
