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PFP seeks Kaohsiung-Shanghai links

A delegation of People First Party (PFP) Kaohsiung City officials will embark on a five-day trip to Shanghai tomorrow in the hope of advancing direct sea and air transportation links between the two cities.

"As there are many hurdles in the way of direct cross-strait links for the time being, we cannot sit idly and watch opportunities [for increasing Kaohsiung's competitiveness] pass by," PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said.

The group of five PFP city councilors led by Chang discussed their plans at a press conference in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Taking the legal implications of the Statute Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) into consideration, Chang said that the PFP would propose a special statute to make the idea a reality.

"To enact a special statute allowing for direct transportation links between Kaohsiung and cities in China would be easier than amending the articles banning direct cross-strait transportation in the current statute," Chang said.

The councilors said that while Kaohsiung, the world sixth-largest container shipping center, had the potential to become a global logistics center, the restriction on direct links with China led to the city being increasingly sidelined by Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The opening of Shanghai's Yangshan deep water port in December created a further advantage for the Chinese city, Chang said.

Only the implementation of direct cross-strait transportation links would be able to stimulate Kaohsiung's declining economy, he said.

"We will have a meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng (韓正) and the city government, and pay a visit to the Yangshan port," Chang said.

Under the PFP's plan, the direct link between Kaohsiung and China will be established in three stages.

Chang said that the PFP delegation would propose the special statute when it returns, and would propose a referendum on the issue to coincide with the Kaohsiung mayoral election at the end of the year.
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