Kinmen may close `small three links'

Countering opposition party legislators' calls to broaden the scope of the "small three links" (小三通), Kinmen County Council yesterday advised the Kinmen County Government to consider suspending links with China in the face of the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Chen Tien-shon (陳天順), director of the county government's Bureau of Health, said yesterday.

"The Kinmen County Council has suggested the county government consider suspending the implementation of the small three links if SARS is also reported as occurring in Xiamen (廈門)," Chen said.

Xiamen is a harbor city in China's Fujian Province.

Initiated in January 2001, the small three links allows trade and transportation links between Kinmen and China's Fujian Province. Fujian is next to Guangdong Province, where the majority of the SARS cases reported so far have occurred.

Quoting remarks made by Kinmen County Chief Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) of the pro-Beijing New Party, Chen said that if SARS is reported to have broken out in Xiamen, the county government would advise the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the government body in charge of China-relevant policy, to suspend the implementation of the links to prevent SARS from spreading to the offshore island.

"In light of the present situation [concerning SARS], we don't think it is appropriate at this stage to broaden the scope of the small three links," as to do so could put the health of the population of Kinmen at risk, Chen said.

His remarks came in response to recent calls by opposition party legislators to broaden the scope of the "small three links."

At a joint-press conference yesterday, PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien (高明見), Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國), Tsao Yuan-chang (曹原彰) and the New Party's Wu Cherng-dean (吳成典) again called on the government to immediately relax the small three links.

They want the government to allow China-based Taiwanese busi-nesspeople to travel between Taiwan and China as a safety measure to avoid Hong Kong, which has reported many cases of SARS in the past few weeks.

Currently, the Kinmen route is open to Taiwanese businesspeople operating in Fujian Province.

There is, however, a large Taiwanese business community in Guangdong, the reported epicenter of the SARS outbreak.

"In a bid to help all China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and reduce their chances of being infected with SARS while traveling between Taiwan and China, the government should immediately open up the `small three links' as a substitute for a stopover in Hong Kong, in order to safeguard the health of these Taiwanese busi-nesspeople," Feng said.

While noting that the MAC at present has no plans to suspend Kinmen-China links, Kinmen County Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said that the relevant government agencies would work to strengthen the island's SARS-prevention measures.

Chen also said that the council would remain in close contact with Kinmen officials.

In addition, in light of the SARS threat, the MAC announced yesterday that visiting Chinese spouses of Taiwanese residents, or Chinese high-tech personnel who are working in this country, could have their visas extended by one month so they do not have to travel between Taiwan and China and risk becoming infected with SARS.

These individuals do not have to apply for the visa extensions because the extension will be granted automatically, added council Vice Chairman Jonathan Liu (劉德勳).