Tsai Ing-wen (
"This deserves to be resolved and should be resolved; it will be a priority matter," Tsai said.
Tsai made her comments yesterday while having lunch with members of the Taiwan Unified Alliance (台聯會), which includes KMT and People First Party lawmakers.
Chen Ching-pao (
Chen suggested that worshippers could make the trip under the auspices of a recently-passed law called the Outlying Islands Development Act or "small three links." The law was passed shortly after the presidential election and allows for direct links between Kinmen, Penghu, Matsu and China.
While the necessary details of the law have yet to be hammered out, worshippers of the goddess have called on the government to consider their travel to China as a special case.
Every year nearly 100,000 worshippers travel to Meizhou, but because of the ban on direct links, to get there legally they must pass through Hong Kong or travel on cruise boats which follow the same indirect course.
Chen said that if President-elect Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) put his support behind the measure then Chen would support all of the president's policies in the legislature.
"If A-bian supports this, I would support his policies 100 percent," Chen said.
China has already approved of the possible direct travel of Taiwan worshippers to Meizhou, he added. Some reports have said that new docks have been built especially for the arrival of a large number of worshippers who are expected to arrive this year.
Such a measure, if treated as a special case, could have a positive impact on relations, Chen said.
Tsai agreed that the measure could be useful for promoting relations and said that she admired the worshippers who sometimes take the now illegal and risky direct trip across the Strait in small fishing boats.
"I respect their devotion; it is very dangerous. We should give this special consideration," Tsai said.
However, Tsai was unwilling to promise that worshippers could travel to Meizhou in June.
"I will look into the details," Tsai said, "but right now it's hard to know when we might be able to make the trip."
Worshippers at Chenlan Temple in Taichung County's Tachia township, have already begun to make preparations for a direct trip to Meizhou with a brief stop in Kinmen. The voyage would be made under the direction of the head of the temple, Yen Ching-piao (顏清標).
Yen, also the Taichung County speaker, has negotiated a contract with a Singapore cruise company and expects to take some 7,000 worshippers to China.
If the application is approved, the trip would be the first legal, direct passage of a vessel across the Taiwan Strait since 1949.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS