With suitcases and packages stuffed with food, alcohol and construction materials, Taiwanese shoppers make their way toward a ferry in the Chinese city of Xiamen bound for the Taipei-administered island of Kinmen.
Passing through immigration, the travelers cannot miss a sign declaring: “One family on two sides of the strait, working together to fulfil our dreams.”
In the months leading up to tomorrow’s inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), China Coast Guard ships have made frequent appearances around the waters of Kinmen.
Photo: Cheng I-Hwa, AFP
Yet the deepening rift between Beijing and Taipei, and the threat of a conflict if China fulfils its promise to take Taiwan, appears to be the last thing on the minds of the Taiwanese passengers.
More than 700,000 people made the journey between Kinmen and China by ferry last year, the vast majority of them Taiwanese, and many of them seeking a bargain in the bustling markets of Xiamen.
Huang Chuang-yuan, who runs a seafood restaurant on Kinmen, is one of the many regulars traveling back and forth between the island and Xiamen. “China is a big market, they have more products and more variety of things — and things are much cheaper,” Huang, 57, said on Friday after arriving back at Kinmen with his haul. “But you need to watch the products very closely. Some are good but others are not.”
One of Taiwan’s many outlying islands, Kinmen, is just 5km and a world apart from the gleaming towers and upscale shopping malls populating Xiamen.
Before passengers can board the ferry in the Chinese city for the half-hour journey across the sliver of water separating it from Kinmen, they put their luggage through X-ray machines and then pass through immigration.
People push airport-style trolleys loaded with suitcases and large packages up a ramp and onto the ferry before taking their seats. Eight ferries run each day between the two sides, with the staff removing China’s national flag from the vessel when the boat moves closer toward Kinmen.
Chef Ji De-wei said he travels back and forth to Xiamen every month to stock up on products. “It’s super convenient to get there and it’s only a 30-minute ferry,” said the 45-year-old as three of his employees loaded his purchases onto a small truck.
Ji recently opened a restaurant in Kinmen, but instead of sourcing materials locally, he went to Xiamen. “Things are not cheaper but there is more choice,” he said.
Some passengers like Gail Lin had been in China for the sights, not the shopping. In China “things are very modern,” she gushed, adding that in Kinmen “things are a bit outdated.”
Meng-hsuan Lin, 28, hoped more Chinese citizens could visit Taiwan, including Kinmen, after Lai takes office tomorrow. “Kinmen is the safest place. Nothing can happen,” she said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS