Allowing Taiwanese tourists to use the "small three links" to travel to China will greatly help Kinmen achieve its aim of transforming itself from a military bastion into a prime tourist destination, Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) said on Friday.
Kinmen County is eager to pursue economic progress after the number of troops stationed there has declined as a result of a government policy change, and Lee urged the central government to include tourists from Taiwan proper within the scope of the "small three links" to help Kinmen better develop its economy.
"Such an opening would definitely help Kinmen boost its economic development," Lee said, adding that he would continue appealing Kinmen's case with Taipei and calling for its quick approval.
By the end of this year, only approximately 2,000 troops will be left on Kinmen, a development that is expected to further adversely impact Kinmen's dwindling economy, he said.
Initiated in January 2001 by the government to help offset the lack of direct transportation links across the Taiwan Strait, the "small three links" refer to direct shipping and trade services maintained between Taiwan's Kinmen and Matsu islands and China's Fujian Province ports of Xiamen and Mawei.
When the "small three links" were inaugurated only people with household registrations on Kinmen or Matsu were allowed to travel between Taiwan and China via the links, although those regulations have since been gradually eased.
Quanzhou in Fujian was also added to the links last year.
Veterans Affairs Commission (VAC) Chairman Hu Cheng-pu (胡鎮埔) said last week that the VAC would set up service centers on Kinmen and Matsu to assist veterans and their dependents traveling to and from China via the "small three links."
He noted that the government eased the regulations on March 31 to allow veterans born anywhere in China, instead of only Fujian Province, to travel directly from the two islands to and from China.
"The VAC attaches great importance to the new policy and is considering how best to serve the veterans," he said.
He noted that there are still more than 500,000 veterans in the nation and said he expects more of them will travel to China through this "economical" and "convenient" channel.
"Where there are needs, there will be service," Hu said, adding that the service centers will be set up at wharves on the two islands as soon as possible.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS