Sat January 4, 2003 02:25 AM ET / By Angus Chuang - Reuters TAIPEI - A Taiwanese airline revealed a breakthrough in transport connections with China Saturday, saying it had been granted rights to fly charter services to the mainland during the Lunar New Year holidays. Taiwan's approval of the limited and temporary services offered "a new opportunity for resumption of bilateral talks" after a three-year freeze, local newspapers Saturday quoted Chen Ming-tong, spokesman for the Taiwanese cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, as saying. Far Eastern Air Transport Corp's planned charter flights to Shanghai look set to be the first Taiwanese air services to land in China since 1949, when the island split from the mainland in a civil war. China has long advocated direct air services with Taiwan but the island has maintained a ban on direct trade, transport and postal links since the split, even as the two sides have become economically intertwined over the past 20 years. Analysts said Far Eastern's service rights were at least a good first step toward permitting those three types of connections, the so-called three links. "This could be a prelude to establishment of direct three links between the two sides," said Philip Yang, who teaches political science at National Taiwan University. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian called Wednesday for closer cooperation with China, focusing on economic ties. His statement inspired expectations that his government would permit direct trade and travel with the mainland this year. Taipei and Beijing have not been on official speaking terms since 1999, when then Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui enraged Beijing by redefining their relationship as "special state to state" ties. Booming business ties between Taiwan and China have created strong air traffic across the strait separating them. But Taiwan's ban on direct links forces passengers to land first in Hong Kong or Macau. They must use an airline from those territories or switch between Taiwanese and Chinese carriers at the stopover. STOPOVERS Far Eastern's charter services will also have to land in Hong Kong or Macau but will then fly into China, rather than return immediately to the island. Beijing has called for the Lunar New Year services to fly without stopovers, and Taiwanese investors have also been clamoring for direct links with the mainland to save time and cost. The Taiwanese government has resisted those calls on grounds of national security. Far Eastern, one of six Taiwanese carriers that have applied to operate the Lunar New Year charter services, will fly six of the flights to and from Shanghai, the airline said in a statement. Other Taiwanese carriers applying for the charter flights, include China Airlines LTD, EVA Airways, UNI Airways, Mandarin Airlines and TransAsia Airways. Up to one million Taiwanese live and work in China and an estimated 300,000 return to the island for family reunions during the week-long Lunar New Year holidays, which begin on February 1. Beijing views self-governing Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be brought into its fold, by force if necessary. Despite simmering tensions, Taiwan businessmen have invested up to US$100 billion in China since relations improved in the late 1980s, lured by the vast Chinese market, cheap land and labor, and a common language and culture.