Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday promised to put the Cabinet's "small three links" (小三通) policy into action by Jan. 1 and open Kinmen's Liaolo Harbor (金門料羅港) and Matsu's Fuwo Harbor (馬祖福澳港) to trade with China.
"[We] hope the policy, after being implemented next year, will bring economic prosperity to the Kinmen and Matsu areas, and further improve cross-strait relations," Chang said.
The premier made the comments yesterday after the Kinmen County Government gave a briefing on plans for "small three links" at Liaolo Bay (料羅灣) on the south side of the island. He said that implementation of the Cabinet's main "three links" (大三通) policy would be based on the effectiveness of the "small three links."
PHOTO: WU CHENG-TING, LIBERTY TIMES
Chang said that the Mainland Affairs Council (
However, if the policy is implemented next year, just 700 people per day from Xiamen (廈門) would be allowed into Kinmen and 100 people per day from Fuzhou (福州) would be allowed into Matsu.
Kinmen County Commissioner Chern Shoei-tzay (
"[The Cabinet] will conduct a thorough evaluation on the policy six months after it has been implemented," Chang said.
Chang, accompanied by Cabinet members Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (賴英照), Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), yesterday held the second Cabinet coordination meeting between the central and local governments in Kinmen County and inspected the construction site of Kinmen's Cross-sea Bridge (金門跨海大橋) that will connect Kinmen proper with Little Kinmen.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had previously promised to complete construction of the bridge during his four-year tenure as one of his campaign promises to the people of Kinmen County.
The project, costing an estimated NT$5.2 billion, was begun in 1993.
Chang said that he was impressed to discover that Kinmen County had raised NT$700 million of NT$1 billion needed for the bridge's preparatory fund, and he hoped the bridge could provide a means to communicate across the Strait and help the economic development of Kinmen county.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS