First sailing to Xiamen to be delayed

Taiwan said yesterday it had postponed by one day a direct shipping voyage to China after Beijing threw a spanner in the works, officials said.

"We just received a phone call from an official of the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office suggesting we postpone our departure for one day to Jan. 2," said Chen Shui-tsai (陳水在), commissioner of Kinmen County.

"The Chinese official said he made the suggestion on the grounds that the Chinese side would not be able to greet the delegates on Monday, which is a holiday," Chen said.

Chen had planned to lead a group of 192 people on board two ships sailing directly from the Taiwan-controlled island of Kinmen to Xiamen in China's Fujian Province.

Taiwan has agreed to permit direct trade, transportation and postal services between Kinmen and Matsu and China's Xiamen and Fuzhou cities from Jan. 1.

"We decided to accept the advice" to sail on Jan. 2, Chen said, adding that he believed the postponement had "nothing to do with politics."

The government however claimed otherwise.

"Beijing is trying to say it will not allow Taiwan to take control of handling thorny relations, even though the upcoming `small three links' would still be in Beijing's interest," an official at the Government Information Office said.

Zhou Mingwei (周明偉), deputy director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, had said on Wednesday that Beijing was not at all happy with Taipei's plan to allow the small thee links (小三通) to go ahead.

But yesterday China, which had pressed for full direct links, gave lukewarm support to the small three links, the official Xinhua news agency quoted a Chinese official as saying.

Taipei has said if the links go well, comprehensive direct links would eventually be launched, but has not offered a timetable.

Meanwhile, Minister of National Defense Wu Shih-wen (伍世文) made an inspection tour of the front-line island of Matsu yesterday to review security measures adopted by the island's defense command ahead of the imminent opening of the small three links.

Wu said after his return from Matsu that he was satisfied with the preparations made by the Matsu defense command to guarantee the offshore island group's security following the opening of direct links with China.

Wu said he is convinced that the limited opening of direct exchanges of people and goods with China will not have any adverse impact on Matsu's security and defense since the military has reinforced its security measures and adjusted some defense deployment and tactics.

As for the possibility of military reconciliation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Wu said the time is still not yet ripe to consider such an issue.

"It will depend on whether the small three links plan can be implemented smoothly," the minister noted.