HISTORIC: The tourists arriving in northern Taiwan off an ocean liner from Hong Kong yesterday. They were the first Chinese vistors to arrive on the island by ship. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

The 790 Chinese tourists arrived on a luxury ocean liner that had set out from Hong Kong.

They walked from the port of Keelung in north Taiwan on a red carpet onto a fleet of buses for sightseeing in nearby Taipei, local media and a port official said.

'It's a new arrangement for Chinese people to come by ocean liner,' a spokesman for the Taiwan government's Mainland Affairs Council said.

'We changed the rule before the Lunar New Year, and this is the first group that applied.'

Granted double-entry visas for the first time, the tourists were expected to reach the southern port of Kaohsiung after Keelung by today for a jewellery exhibition before heading back to Hong Kong later today.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to attack if the island formalises its de facto independence.

Taipei blocks most mainland Chinese travellers for security reasons or for fear of visitors overstaying their visa on the relatively wealthy island.

But this month the Cabinet passed a rule allowing Chinese tourists to arrive via ship from ports outside mainland China. There is political pressure from the main opposition Kuomintang party to improve strained relations.

The two sides have negotiated the technical aspects of a broader agreement that will allow as many as 1,000 Chinese tourists a day and open direct weekend charter flights, a boon to the island's flagging service sector. But the two governments shelved the deal about 10 months ago over political differences.

REUTERS