Politics a barrier to Taiwan opening to China visitors

HUALIEN, Taiwan, June 21 (Reuters) A deal to open Taiwan to more Chinese visitors has become stuck on the issue of what to call Taiwan, as China-based businessmen from the island clamoured for an agreement that would sharply boost cross-strait flights.

All the logistics have been worked out, but Beijing has insisted that Taiwan be known as ''China, Taiwan'', despite Taiwan's objections, Chen Ming-tong, chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, told Reuters in an interview.

''It's in the forseeable future,'' Chen said on the sidelines of a two-day conference, referring to when an agreement might be struck.

Earlier in the day, he told about 150 China-based Taiwanese businessman that talks had largely stalled in April and May, but that Beijing had given some ground recently lans being discussed would increase the number of direct flights between China and Taiwan to every weekend, compared with on just four major holidays each year.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when the Nationalist Party fled there after losing a civil war to the Communists.

Direct flights between the two sides were non-existent for the 50 years after the war ended, but have restarted in recent years with some chartered flights on major holidays.

An estimated 1 million Taiwanese now live and work in China, and Taiwan investors have pumped an estimated 100 billion dollars into mainland ventures. China is also Taiwan's top trading partner.

Many of the businessmen gathered in Hualien called the opening of more regular cross-strait flights their top priority, and expressed frustration at how long talks have dragged on.

''Our home is in Taiwan, but our workplaces are in China,'' said conference participant Wang Jen-sheng, president of the Taiwan business association for central China city of Zhengzhou.

Taiwan and China have been negotiating a tourism agreement for more than a year, which would significantly open up the island to Chinese tourists.

Analysts estimate opening Taiwan to mainland tourists could provide a boost for the island's relatively small international travel industry, adding as much as 0.2 per centage points to economic growth.

REUTERS LPB RK1230