Limited ferry services between Kinmen and Lienchiang counties and Xiamen, China, would continue beyond their previously scheduled termination today, the government said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Saturday said some additional trips would be scheduled between the outlying islands and China starting tomorrow.
The government on Dec. 22 announced that it would allow a limited reopening of ferry links, with a maximum of one ferry trip a day from Kinmen to China and no more than two trips per week from the Matsu Islands to China from Jan. 7 to today.
Photo: Wu Cheng-Ting, Taipei Times
The services were offered exclusively to Kinmen and Matsu residents, as well as their Chinese spouses and children, to help them travel between the counties and China during the Lunar New Year holiday without having to first travel to Taiwan proper.
Kinmen’s main island is less than 10km from Xiamen, but more than 300km from Taipei.
Due to concerns over a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, Taiwanese working or studying in China and Chinese travelers were not permitted on the ferries during the one-month period.
The government said that if such people traveled to Kinmen or Lienchiang and tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, they would have increased the strain on the two counties’ limited medical capacities.
The MAC on Saturday said that eligibility for the ferry rides would remain the same, adding that it would maintain the limit of one ferry trip a day between Kinmen and Xiamen.
However, it would increase the frequency of trips between Lienchiang and China to four per week and restart the service between Kinmen and Quanzhou, with no more than two trips per week.
Chai So-ling (翟所領), a vice chairman of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, criticized the continued curbs on the ferry services.
COVID-19 concerns that initially caused the ferry services to be suspended three years ago would no longer be an issue with proper planning, Chai said.
As China brings its COVID-19 outbreak under control, the only reason not to fully resume the ferry runs is political, he said.
Chai said it would be better if the program were reopened to business travelers who live on Taiwan proper and want to travel to China’s southeastern coast via Kinmen or Lienchiang.
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