Members of the Control Yuan on Monday urged the Mainland Affairs Council to talk with its Chinese counterpart about the problem of Chinese garbage accumulating on the shores of the Matsu Islands and hurting tourism.
The Control Yuan first became aware of the problem when a delegation of members visited Beigan Township (北竿) in Matsu in March.
A local council member told the delegation that garbage from China washing ashore was a serious problem that the local government could not resolve.
The council member said that if the problem is not solved, Matsu’s touted ecotourism industry would be devastated.
On Monday, Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), Chiang Chi-wen (江綺雯) and Pao Tsung-ho (包宗和) joined officials from the Environmental Protection Administration and the local council on a tour of the affected areas in Matsu.
Upon returning to Taipei, the three said that Kinmen, Matsu and China’s coastal cities have formed a “one-day living quarters” — where people can visit each other and return home within a single day — so the two sides should forge a consensus on environmental issues and other concerns in the daily lives of residents.
Among the three major issues between the two sides — the poaching of fish, the harvesting of sand and the accumulation of garbage — garbage seems to have been given the least attention by Chinese authorities, they said.
The council should talk to Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to search for a solution to the problem, Wang said.
“Only by stopping the garbage flow from the very source in China can we hope to solve the problem,” she said, urging the council to negotiate a solution with the TAO.
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