TAIPEI (AFP) -– Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou Monday hailed the launch of daily flights and other transport links with China, saying they would lead to a further warming of relations between the two sides.

Four freighters from Taiwan's northern Keelung port and one each from the central Taichung and southern Kaohsiung ports set off for the mainland at about 10:30 A.M. (0200 GMT).
""Direct shipping and aviation across the strait represents rapprochement between the two sides,"" Ma said before a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kaohsiung for the launch of a direct shipping service.
""From now on, dialogue will replace opposition,"" Ma said, adding that he believed the transport links would have a far-reaching impact on ties.
""The two sides can work together for peace and prosperity,"" he added.
Relations between the two sides have improved dramatically this year following Ma's election in March as president.
Local shipping firms could save more than 4.0 billion Taiwan dollars (120 million U.S.) each year due to shorter journey times, Ma said.
Taipei and Beijing have agreed that neither the Taiwanese nor the Chinese flags will be flown when a ship enters port, Lai Shin-yuan of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, the island's top China policy-making body, said while attending a ceremony presided over by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan at Keelung port.
Earlier Monday, a plane carrying 144 passengers and crew took off from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen for Taiwan at 07:20 A.M. (2320 GMT Sunday) and arrived at Taipei's Sungshan Airport 80 minutes later, marking the first direct daily flights across the Strait.