Print

Mail

wiki links

Kinmen considers buying water from the mainland

Taiwan plans to buy drinking water from neighboring countries including China, its Economics Minister Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) said yesterday.

"The Ministry of Economic Affairs has instructed its representative offices in neighboring countries to inquire about buying water from them," Lin told the legislature in response to a lawmaker's question about the current water crisis.

Lin did not name the countries, but because of Taiwan's tense relationship with China, Taipei will not buy large quantities from China for fear of being manipulated by Beijing, Lin said.

Meanwhile Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), on an inspection tour of Kinmen yesterday, said that while the council would not rule out Kinmen's alleviating its problems by buying water from China, more time was needed to consider other options.

"Buying water from China is not necessarily the only solution," Tsai said.

Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) told reporters that Kinmen proper had water for 80 days' supply, while Little Kinmen (小金門) -- one of the islands under the jurisdiction of Kinmen county, had only one month's supply left.

Lee said that if the county purchased water from China, "it will be a last resort." He added, "other possible solutions such as buying water from Taiwan proper will be the first choice, but since the county is much closer to China, it is more economical to purchase water from the other side of the Strait."

Kinmen is only around 2km away at its closest point from China.

Tsai said the "small three links" policy has allowed the island groups of Kinmen and Matsu to bring in water from across the Strait in the face of shortages as long as permission was obtained in advance from the MAC.
This story has been viewed 2785 times.