Pacts inked to expand direct links

TAIPEI: Top mainland and Taiwan negotiators signed historic agreements yesterday in Taipei to establish full-fledged "three direct links" - transport, postal service and trade across the Straits.

The agreements were inked during a visit by Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), to the island. It is the highest-level visit by a mainland envoy to Taiwan in nearly 60 years, which have mostly been marked by hostility and confrontation.

Taipei banned the "three direct links" across the Straits in 1949, citing security concerns.