A term used to describe the direct flights, shipping and postal services across the Taiwan Straits. Inaugurated on December 15 last year, their reopening between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan signals the breaking of a decades-long ban on regular links with Chinese compatriots across the Taiwan Straits. Direct communication across the Straits virtually stopped after the new China was founded in 1949 and the Kuomintang government retreated to Taiwan.

“大三通”指海峡两岸“通邮、通航、通商”。海峡两岸于2008年12月15日开启的“大三通”标志着横亘在大陆和台湾同胞间常达几十年的有碍正常交往的坚冰已被破除，自1949年新中国成立，国民党退守台湾后，两岸直接联系实际上就停止了。

The establishment of three direct links - trade, transport and postal services - was first proposed by the mainland in 1979, hoping to end cross-Straits separation for the benefit of both economies and people.

“大三通”（通商、通航、通邮）的开启，最初是由大陆方面于1979年提出的，希望以此结束两岸隔离状态，使经济发展和两岸同胞受益。

In 2001, a "mini three links" was established, allowing postal, transportation and trade between the mainland's coastal Fujian province and the islands of Jinmen and Matsu in Taiwan. Cross-straits charter flights were approved in 2003 during the Lunar New Year and later expanded to other traditional festivals.

“小三通”于2001年启动，允许大陆沿海省份福建和台湾金门、马祖两岛之间实现通邮、通航、通商。2003年正式批准春节期间实行两岸包机，之后逐步扩展到其它传统节日。

（实习生 许雅宁，英语点津 Helen 编辑）

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