`Small three links' an utter failure

Members a Matsu fishing association recently told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) that Chinese fishing boats frequently intrude on Taiwanese waters around Matsu. In addition to fishing, crews also go ashore to rest.

This behavior not only affects the rights of Taiwanese fishermen, it also highlights serious cracks in Taiwan's national security.

The fact that frontline troops leave the door wide open in this manner is both frightening and worrying.

These intrusions, be they to fish, smuggle goods or enter the country illegally, have long been common. On Jan. 1, 2001, the government decriminalized the "small three links" between Kinmen/Matsu and China. It also decided that it was up to it to control these links.

After four years, the small three links that were intended to work two ways have become a one-way street to China -- Taiwanese tourists and businesspeople travel to and from China, but the flow of Chinese tourists is just a trickle, if that. The control is obviously not in the government's hands, but rather the public's.

As for decriminalization, the links are permitted only within a specified framework. In other words, only those who meet certain conditions may make use of these links. This legalization of cross-strait exchanges, however, has given local residents the impression that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not enemies. Fishing and smuggling by Chinese fishermen is now seen as the most natural of things. Decriminalization has thus become a protection for Chinese fishermen.

The opening up of the small three links from Kinmen and Matsu did not bring a flurry of business opportunities, nor have the anticipated two-way exchanges materialized. Instead, the economies of the two islands have begun leaning toward China.

Even more seriously, a common community is forming with the cities on the Chinese side, while Taiwan is becoming more and more distant. Now Kinmen and Matsu, the frontline of Taiwanese security, are being flooded by Chinese goods, and 70 percent to 80 percent of the local daily necessities are provided by Chinese smugglers.

It has even gone so far that Taiwanese tourists to the two islands bring Chinese goods home with them in the belief that they actually are local Kinmen and Matsu specialities.

The opening up of the small three links has led to such frequent travel from the two islands to China that local residents are having problems differentiating between friend and foe. This has meant that Chinese people can sneak into Kinmen and Matsu, thus crossing into Taiwan. A backdoor has thus been opened that is posing a major threat to Taiwan's security. This shows that the small three links policy is wrong and the revolving door into Taiwan thus opened, will have unimaginable consequences.

The small three links have not only distanced Taiwan from Kinmen and Matsu economically, but also jeopardized national defense and security as a whole. Ever since the links came into operation in Kinmen and Matsu, criminal cases have risen in the two regions, more than half of which are directly related to the opening up of the small three links.

Looking these cases, it becomes apparent that some people who traveled between Taiwan and China on bogus papers were actually smugglers, white-collar criminals or other felons who had successfully snuck out of the country through the small three links.

Customs in charge of affairs relating to small three links should have adopted stricter regulations and deserved better equipment and staffing than those working at CKS International Airport or Kaohsiung International Airport to effectively deter the infiltration of illegal immigrants from China.

What even more worrying is that the goods smuggled by Chinese fishing boats -- including agricultural products, firearms, drugs and, potentially, infectious diseases, will be detrimental to the health of Taiwanese and compromise social order.

All in all, the small three links have become a hotbed of cross-strait criminal activity and the best means for Chinese agents to infiltrate Taiwan.

Whether look at it from the perspective of policymaking, enforcement or results, it is clear that the small three links have been a thoroughgoing failure.

The National Security Bureau, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Coast Guard Administration should also face up to the problems resulting from the opening up of the links and seek to improve the situation.

Additionally, to eradicate cross-strait criminal activities and the threat from infectious diseases, the authorities should also clamp down on Chinese fishing boats attempting to extend beyond Taiwan's fishing zone and engage in smuggling activities; otherwise, Taiwanese will be living in an environment teeming with substandard food, firearms, drugs and contagious diseases.