Taipei, Nov 4 : China and Taiwan reportedly signed agr

Beijing - China's ruling Communist Party sees the signing of four economic agreements with Taiwan on Tuesday as a small step on the path that it hopes will lead to eventual unification with the island state, a leading scholar said.

"In this situation the main aims are to promote economic, trade and cultural exchanges across the Strait, and to realize and normalize the 'three direct links' of trade, mail, and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Strait," Li Jiaquan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"This trip does not cover political issues," Li said of the three-day visit to Taiwan by Chen Yunlin, the head of China's Association of Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

Taipei - Negotiators met Tuesday to prepare signing four pacts on expanding trade ties across the Taiwan Strait, in the first high-level talks with China held on Taiwan since 1949.

China's chief negotiator Chen Yunlin and his Taiwan counterpart Chiang Ping-kun, who met at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, are expected to sign the agreements Tuesday afternoon.

They cover direct sea links, the expansion of weekend charter flights between the China and Taiwan to daily charter flights, direct postal services and food safety.

Taipei - Chinese negotiator Chen Unlin arrived in Taipei Monday for the highest-level talks between Taipei and Beijing in half a century.

Chen and his 74-member delegation arrived in a chartered Air China plane which landed at the Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei at 11:45 am.

The talks will begin at the Grand Hotel in Taipei Monday afternoon and last until Thursday.

Taipei - Beijing has agreed in principle to allow Taiwan airlines to fly over China to other countries, which will boost Taiwan airlines' international competitiveness, a newspaper reported Monday.

The Commercial Times, quoting an unnamed source, said that China has agreed in principle to approve Taiwan airlines' requests to fly over China's airspace en route to other countries, which will save time and fuel on flights to Europe.

If China grants the fly-over rights, or "first freedom rights," it could cut Taiwan airlines' routes to and from Europe by four hours.

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday urged China and Taiwan to recognize each other's sovereignty.

"If the two sides recognize each other, the cross-strait problem will no longer exist," he said in an interview with the Taichung Radio Station, referring to the Taiwan-China feud which began with the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which the Nationalists, who fled to Taiwan, lost.

Ma added that he hopes that when Chinese negotiator Chen Yunlin visits Taiwan this week for talks, Chen would call him "president."

Before Taiwan and China extend mutual recognition to each other, each side for the time being should not deny the other side's existence, Ma said.