Kinmen County is preparing to cope with China-based Taiwan businesspeople who want to return home for the Lunar New Year holiday via the small three links between Taiwan-controlled Kinmen and Matsu islands and two ports in China's Fujian Province.
Chang Kuo-tu (張國土), acting director of the county's tourism bureau, said that over the weekend Kinmen authorities will open service centers at Shuitou Port and Shangyi Airport for the benefit of Taiwan businesspeople, and their families and will convene coordination meetings to work out ferry schedules.
The islands of Kinmen and Matsu were allowed by the government to open direct transport and trade links with Fujian's Xiamen and Fuzhou ports in January 2001 as a goodwill gesture designed to improve bilateral relations.
According to estimates by the Straits Exchange Foundation about 4,500 Taiwan businessmen have applied to return to Taiwan via Kinmen for this year's Lunar New Year holiday.
Chang said Kinmen's sea and air transport capacities between Jan. 26 and Jan. 30 and Feb. 4 and Feb. 10 are far ahead of that amount, as previous arrangements were made based on a volume of 13,000 passengers.
A total of seven passenger vessels -- three from China and four from Taiwan -- will ply the routes during the festive period, offering 1,702 seats per day, while 2,390 seats will be available on a daily basis on flights to take Taiwan businessmen from Kinmen to Taiwan proper, he explained.
Chang said the Kinmen county authorities will be fully mobilized to cope with the influx of passengers in the hope of making Kinmen a routine transit stop in voyages between the two sides so as to help boost local development.
Transportation and communications head Lin Ling-san (林陵三) also expressed satisfaction with Kinmen's preparations for the New Year last week following an inspection tour of the islands.
RSS