According to a Ministry of the Interior statement released after press time Friday night, 289 Taiwanese based in the Chinese port of Xiamen will next week set a precedent by returning to Taiwan via Kinmen.
A special meeting of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Straits Exchange Foundation on Friday approved an application for the right to make the journey for members of Xiamen's Taiwanese business association, the statement said.
The application is the first to be approved since an amendment to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) made it possible for all Taiwan residents to apply for authorization to travel to and from China via the three outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu and obliged the government to consider each application.
Previously only residents of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu were entitled to travel to China directly from those islands.
The amendment was passed on Jan. 18, the final working day of the previous legislative session and is expected to extend the functions of the Small Three Links (小三通), since the original policy only allowed residents of the three outlying islands to travel direct to China.
MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) stressed that the approval of the application was a "special case" just for the convenience of Taiwanese businesspeople during Chinese New Year.Asked whether travel via Kinmen would become the norm for Taiwanese businessmen during important Chinese holidays such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and future Chinese New Year holidays, she said, "It depends whether this case is successful or not."
Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) told the Taipei Times in December that Tsai had already indicated her support for the proposal. The government is entitled to handle specific cross-strait issues as special cases if the MAC agrees to its doing so.
The MOI statement said that the ministry will "issue special permits for single entry to Kinmen-Matsu" to all members of the group, confirming the authorization for them to travel to Kinmen from China.
The group will be divided into two subgroups, departing on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 respectively, to return home to celebrate Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12.
While some Taiwanese businessmen welcomed the government's approval for the trip, others complained that the one-off return trip would not provide a long-term solution to their travel needs.
Taiwanese businesspeople usually fly to Hong Kong or Macao where they transfer to flights bound for China.
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