Penghu links to be `case by case'

`EXPERIMENT'： The MAC said the government does not plan to make Penghu's links with China a normal practice, as has been done with Kinmen and Matsu

By Jewel Huang  /  STAFF REPORTER

Wed, Aug 10, 2005 - Page 3

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳昭燮) yesterday said that a plan to allow Penghu to adopt the small three links will be initiated for special cases, and will not become a normalized practice as in Kinmen and Matsu.

He made the remarks after former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) expressed strong objections to the small three links being implemented in Penghu.

Misunderstanding?

Wu made the clarification yesterday after proposing a special report on adopting the small three links in Penghu at the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) weekly central standing committee.

He said that Lee and some TSU members might have misunderstood an announcement by Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) in Penghu last week.

The "small three links" refer to direct cargo, passenger and postal links between Kinmen and Xiamen, China, as well as Matsu and Mawei, China. The links were set up in 2001.

Wu yesterday said that the policies the government has adopted regarding Penghu are not new and that it has never changed its cross-strait policy toward the islands.

"The small three links will be carried out in the form of special cases. It will not be a normalized and regular policy in the near future," Wu said.

Wu also said that Penghu had adopted the small three links model in 2002 for a religious exchange and added that the small three links will be implemented in Penghu like an experiment using individual cases.

Plan slammed

Speaking at a separate event, TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強), however called the government a "liar" in front of DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at an activity held by the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance that both men attended yesterday morning.

Shu's remarks immediately made the atmosphere awkward.

Shu said that Lee's opposition to opening up the small three links in Penghu was because the islands were likely to become a paradise for smugglers and illegal immigrants if the government did not prepare a thorough national security plan.

"It would be an incomplete policy to open up the small three links in Penghu without a well-rounded plan," Shu said.

Shu denounced those who supported the new policy as being either politicos or businessmen who don't consider the interests of the people of Taiwan.

Sitting beside Shu, Su looked embarrassed and did not respond to his criticisms.

The two men did not talk to each other and left the news conference separately.