China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) yesterday discussed domestic concerns in Kinmen County such as water and power, proposing that residents in the county and those of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province are “like a family.”
Kinmen faces various challenges as it pursues development, Zhang said after a closed-door meeting with Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海).
“The visit was for field research to understand problems facing Kinmen and to get firsthand information, so we can study the issues further after I go back, and come up with solutions through future communications between both sides,” Zhang said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“A family that lives in harmony will prosper and it will succeed in all undertakings,” Zhang said, referring to a Chinese-language saying. “There is no difficulty that cannot be solved.”
One of the problems discussed in talks between Zhang and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) on Saturday was a pending contract between the Kinmen County Government and a Chinese Fujian Province-owned water corporation to introduce water from a reservoir in Quanzhou to Kinmen.
During a visit to the Tianpu Reservior (田埔水庫), the destination of a planned 17km undersea pipeline from Longhu in Quanzhou, MAC Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) said the project would not only help with water shortages, but also signifies “a step forward in cross-strait relations.”
“We are looking forward to signing the contract,” Zhang said.
“We are of the same family and we all drink water from the same river,” he added.
Kinmen County Bureau of Public Works section head Chang Wu-ta (張武達) said that at the initial stage of its completion, the project would provide 25 percent of the county’s water, which currently comes from underground sources.
“Although water shortage problems have not occurred [recently], we need to look for alternative water sources so we can preserve underground water resources,” Chang said.
Residents of Kinmen have mixed feelings about the project.
An employee at Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor (金門酒廠) surnamed Hsu (許) said he believed that the project was welcomed by a majority of people in Kinmen.
“It is true that we have not faced rationed water supplies, but sufficient water supply is important for the development of the tourism industry,” Hsu said.
A 58-year-old taxi driver surnamed Chuang (莊) said he does not feel comfortable with Kinmen tapping water from China.
“The problem of lack of water has existed since I was young. We were fine without water supplies from China when there were 100,000 soldiers stationed in Kinmen in the past. Now there are only 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers here and there has been a steady process of population outflow,” he said. “However, it is true that construction of more and more bitumen roads have caused a decrease in underground water.”
The county government is also seeking to obtain electricity from China.
“Ensuring a stable supply of water and electricity is vital to Kinmen. We hope that [Beijing] will enhance its strength in offering necessary assistance to us, because people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are close — like a family — and can work together to realize the ‘Zhonghua dream’ (中華夢),” Chen said.
In expressing his gratitude to Zhang after their meeting, Chen addressed him as lingdao (領導) from Beijing,” a Chinese term which generally means “leader.”
A county government official who wished to remain anonymous said some high-ranking executives at China’s state-owned power corporations visited Kinmen in recent years to learn about its power supply situation.
In an apparent move to dispel possible doubts about reliance on China, Zhang told reporters: “Livelihood issues should not be politicized.”
“Politics is to serve for a better livelihood. There is no way that the water we will provide people in Kinmen with is ‘political water,’” Zhang said. “We can also discuss possible solutions to the problem of power supply.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan Solidarity Union Department of Youth Affairs director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) said the group decided not to tail Zhang as originally planned, because they had received safety threats and parents had called to express concern after an attack by unidentified black-clad menduring their protest against Zhang on Saturday.
Banners reading “Cross-Strait Peace” and “Welcome Minister Zhang Zhijun” were seen in the streets around Kinmen.
A female taxi driver said she received NT$1,500 for having a “Cross-Strait Peace” banner on her car window.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
EXCEPTIONS: Some people could be allowed to reclaim citizenship for humanitarian reasons or because of their contributions to the nation, the interior ministry said Taiwan would soon unveil new rules banning Taiwanese residents of China from reclaiming their citizenship if they participated in Beijing’s propaganda activities, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The measures were drafted following President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 directive that the government counter China’s espionage and influence campaigns aimed at undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a preview of the rules. The changes would affect Taiwanese who lost their citizenship after becoming permanent residents of China or obtaining passports issued by China, it said. Under the measures, former Taiwanese nationals living in China who had made statements denying the
RSS