The Kinmen County Government and County Council yesterday hailed Premier Liu Chao-shiuan's (劉兆玄) pledge to expand the so-called "small three links" to help boost the local economy.
Liu announced earlier yesterday that the Executive Yuan would open the direct shipping links between Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands and several ports in China’s Fujian Province to all Taiwanese citizens within two weeks.
Currently the direct transportation routes are only open to those with household registrations in Kinmen and Matsu and Taiwanese businesspeople working in Fujian.
The routes allow the residents to travel to China without having to take the indirect flights going through Hong Kong or Macau, which takes longer and is more costly.
opening up
By opening up the links to all Taiwanese, people who want to travel to China can go through Kinmen and Matsu instead of Hong Kong, Macau or another destination such as Jeju Island in South Korea.
Expanding the mini links to include all Taiwanese was one of the major campaign promises of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Lu Chih-hui (盧志輝), general secretary of the Kinmen County Government, praised the move as the government heeding the wishes of the Kinmen people for further economic development.
The Kinmen harbor bureau has started improving the immigration inspection facilities at the port of Shuitou’s customs departmen to cope with an expected growth in passenger arrivals and departures, Lu said.
Kinmen County Council Deputy Speaker Hsu Yu-chao (�?L) said it was vital to implement all the complementary measures in time to allow Shuitou to accommodate all the passengers who would be coming from across the country.
landing visas
In view of Taiwan’s broader opening to tourists from China next month, both Lu and Hsu suggested that the central government grant 72-hour landing visas to Chinese tourists and permit them to use Kinmen as a trans-shipment center before travelling to other parts of Taiwan.
Doing so will provide another option for Chinese tourists wishing to visit Taiwan and help bolster Kinmen’s tourism, they said.
Lu and Hsu added that otherwise, the two outlying islands, which are located between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait, would be overlooked by tourists who would generally prefer to see famous scenic and other attractions on Taiwan proper.
Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李柱烽), who is currently in Beijing to attend a Sichuan earthquake relief charity event, said on Wednesday that the Mainland Affairs Council had failed to deliver on Ma’s campaign promise to immediately open the links to all Taiwanese people upon the inauguration of his government on May 20.
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