Local gravel shipping operators yesterday accused the government of neglecting them during negotiations for direct sea transportation links across the Taiwan Strait, asking the transportation minister to step down and threatening to stage a protest on Thursday.
Hsiao Sheng-chi (蕭勝旗), chairman of the Taiwan Association of Gravel Importers, said that the opening up of direct transportation links was a positive move. However, he said the country’s negotiator, Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Vice Minister Oliver Yu (游芳來), had shown little concern for the interests of local gravel importers.
“He threw away the country’s sovereignty and our interests,” Hsiao said. “We are here to express our deepest disssatisfaction with Yu and strongest protest to the government.”
Hsiao said that before the Straits Exchange Foundation conducted the negotiations for direct transportation links with its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, his association had expressed concern to the MOTC. Yu, however, told them to buy new ships.
“We are here not to beg or plead, but to ask the government to replace the rice bowl that has been broken,” Hsiao said.
He said that since the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration took office in May, things had taken a downward turn for gravel shippers.
If they did not receive a positive response from the government, Hsiao said, they would use their ships to stage a protest at the Port of Taipei.
Lin Lu-tong (林呂通), vice chairman of the association, said that he was very unhappy with the way Yu handled the matter.
While China has approved 10 of its own ships to conduct direct sea transportation, the ministry told the association members to apply for the special permit from China.
“It is like we have parents, but they pay no attention to us,” Lin said. “With the permits issued to five [Taiwanese] ships set to expire on Jan. 1, the association’s 21 ships are like orphans nobody wants.”
Lin said Taiwan had allowed gravel imports from China in 1997, but local importers were not required to obtain a permit to ship between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan until recently. China then unilaterally announced that they would no longer issue the permit to ships more than 30 years old, Lin said.
Beijing had originally intended to allow only Taiwanese ships less than 10 years old to ship gravel, Lin said, but later agreed to let ships owned by Taiwanese firms but registered in a third country to do so.
Cheng Yung-ming (鄭永明), an association member, said that they could not afford to buy newer ships because of the prohibitive cost.
He estimated that the association’s 21 ships would lose tens of billions of NT dollars each year if they were no longer permitted to ship gravel across the Taiwan Strait
Cheng has had two ships transporting gravel from China since 2000. He said each cost him more than NT$300 million but now he could sell them for only NT$30 million.
Gravel
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The association vented its anger yesterday following a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that said 20 Taiwan-affiliated sandstone ships that carried flags from other countries had been barred from entering Chinese seaports despite the agreement that had opened direct cross-strait sea links.
Ships register under flags of convenience because of management concerns, such as gaining tax breaks.
The story quoted a ship owner surnamed Cheng (鄭) as saying that China had denied a ship named the Tapang (大邦輪) entry to Whampoa Port despite its possession of a direct sea link permit issued by the Taichung Harbor Bureau.
The story quoted other shippers as saying that China had required the 20 ships apply for new sea transportation and management permits from China and that their original permits previously issued by China would become invalid starting on Thursday.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) yesterday dimissed the report. She also denied media speculation that the cross-strait sea agreement signed early last month had put the nation’s sandstone shipping industry in an unfavorable position vis-a-vis Chinese competitors.
Lai said Taiwanese shippers that had transported sandstone across the Taiwan Strait before the agreement took effect on Dec. 15 would still enjoy equal rights to participate in cross-strait sandstone shipping.
“However, China has prohibited ships that are more than 30 years old from entering its seaports,” she said, adding that problems could arise if ships violate the age restriction.
MAC Vice Chairman Fu Dong-cheng (傅棟成) said both sides of the Taiwan Strait reached a clear consensus during last month’s negotiations to ensure Chinese and Taiwanese shippers’ rights. Fu said information he received from China yesterday showed that China would fully respect the needs of Taiwan’s sandstone and construction industry.
The shippers could file applications for China’s single-trip permits or long-term permits, Fu said, adding that China said it had yet to receive an application from Taiwan.
Fu said the MAC would urge the MOTC to evaluate whether China’s age restriction was reasonable, adding that both Taiwan and China could negotiate the matter.
He said the country could also consider imposing similar age restrictions on Chinese ships.
At a separate setting yesterday, the MOTC said the Tapang, which is owned by Da Shen (HK) Shipping Co (大聖香港船務公司), had not applied for a permit and was thereby denied entry to China.
“Based on the agreement on cross-strait sea transportation, shipping service operators from both China and Taiwan must follow regulations and apply for the required permits,” said Yin Cheng-pong (尹承蓬), director-general of the MOTC’s Aviation and Navigation Department.
Yin said the company had already acquired the navigation permits from Taiwan’s Aviation and Navigation Department, but it did not obtain the same permits from China’s Administration of Water Transport.
The specific rule does not apply strictly to the shipping service operators, as Da Shen was registered as a Hong Kong shipping firm with the freighter registered in Panama, he said.
Yin said the same freighter was able to embark on a voyage to Huangpu, Guangzhou, two weeks ago because both sides tend to be lax about the first trip. Da Shen was already told by the Chinese government to bring the required permit next time it entered Huangpu, Yin said, adding that the age of the vessel was irrelevant.
MOTC Minister Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the ministry would closely monitor the situation regarding cross-strait sea transportation, particularly in terms of protecting Taiwanese shipping service operators.
“If our shipping operators were treated unfairly and were forced to undertake any discriminatory practice, the ministry will, through the proper channel of communication, ask the Chinese government to resolve the issue,” he told a press conference yesterday.
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