Opposition lawmakers succeeded late Thursday in pushing through an amendment allowing limited numbers of visitors from Taiwan to enter China directly via offshore islands.
Currently, only residents of the islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu are permitted to sail directly to two selected ports in China's Fujian Province.
In a last-ditch effort to pass legislation before the end of the current session, which ended yesterday, legislators enacted an amendment to the existing Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例), allowing Taiwan residents to directly travel to China via the three outlying islands.
The amendment is to expand the "small three links (小三通)," which were coolly received by China since their opening last year.
The government initiated the policy allowing direct trade, postal and shipping transport between Kinmen and Matsu and Fuzhou and Xiamen ports in China's Fujian province on Jan. 2, 2001.
KMT legislator Tsao Er-chung (
Tsao said that expanding the "small three links" will not only make it more convenient for Taiwanese to travel to the China, it will also help accelerate economic prosperity for residents on the three islands.
Kinmen Magistrate Lee Chu-feng (
Lee said that the new policy will not only help save immeasurable amounts of money that would be spent on transit trips via a "third place," such as Hong Kong or Macau, it would also help increase the competitiveness of Taiwanese businesspeople operating across the Strait, as well as help boost the economies of the outlying islands.
In response to the amendment, Chen Ming-tung (
The MAC is reluctant to open direct travel via the offshore islands despite strong calls from local businesses and the tourism sector to cut costs and save time.
"Any relaxation has to be made in consideration of overall planning involving cross-strait relations, national security and transportation infrastructure on those islands," Chen said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS