As more Taiwanese see the successful practice of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle in Hong Kong for the past 10 years, this will accelerate the peaceful unification of China, a Chinese official said in Beijing Wednesday.

Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference in Beijing. [file]

Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks at a press conferenc in Beijing. When asked about Hong Kong's role in Cross-Straits relations, Yang replied "more and more compatriots in Taiwan would know, understand and approve the policy after seeing the prosperity that Hong Kong has achieved with this unique political solution."

In the past 10 years since Hong Kong returned to the motherland, the "One Country, Two Systems" policy had ensured the former British colony greater autonomy and continuous stability and prosperity, which serves as a good example to resolve the Taiwan issue, the spokesman said.

He went on to say that Hong Kong has acted as a bridge between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland in the past decade, and kept and developed an appropriate relationship with the island under the guidance and authorization of the central government.

According to Yang, more than 3 million Taiwanese people visit the mainland via Hong Kong every year, and Cross-Straits trade via the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is more than US$10 billion annually. And the numbers are still increasing.

"We believe that the Hong Kong SAR will further develop relations with Taiwan with its unique political status and with appropriate policies in the future," said Yang.

He released figures of charter flights during the traditional Dragon Boat Festival this year. From June 15-22, a total of 6,461 passengers traveled on the flights between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen on the mainland and Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, with the participation of 11 airline companies from both sides.

The first non-stop charter flights across the Taiwan Strait were launched during the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2005. Prior to that, there had not been direct air links across the Taiwan Strait for more than five decades.

But the spokesman urged for regular and more frequent flights on weekends, saying it could be "truly" convenient to travelers and beneficial to those airlines.