2010-06-21 14:36

"Internet is freer and quicker than traditional media. It is more convenient and cheaper to use MSN than a telephone. Definitely, it will boost cross-Strait communication," said Prof. Shih Tse-Hsiung with the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at Taiwan's Chengchi University.

According to the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) this March, there were about 16 million netizens in Taiwan, 70.5 percent of its total population. There are 400 million netizens in the mainland.

However, Shih said, "without face-to-face communication, there may be some misunderstandings in online communications. Split for 61 years, the two sides have some differences in language and social contexts."

Based on his own experience, Lin found those willing to search for information about the mainland on line mostly had connections with the mainland in the real world, for instance, knowing someone in the mainland or having traveled here.

"I'm interested in the mainland because I went there with my father when I was very young," he said.

There are groups and organizations that help young people travel across the Strait. At the second Straits Forum held in Fujian Province from June 19-25, more than 300 Taiwan youths were invited to attend a gathering with mainland counterparts.

Taiwan's education departments are also lobbying the region's legislature to amend laws so that young people from the mainland can enrol at Taiwan universities.

Since December 2008, the mainland and Taiwan have direct air services, greatly shortening cross-Strait travel time. There are 370 regular flights across the Strait every week.

Lin will attend a three-month exchange program in Beijing-based Renmin University this September. He plans to finish a report about different Chinese language expressions used by Taiwan and mainland people.

"We have been kept apart for six decades, which has resulted in cultural and linguistic differences. But the more we know each other, the more similarities we will find between each other," he said.