Taiwan will establish a second off-shore trans-shipment center in the northern port of Keelung if direct transportation links with mainland China cannot be established in the near term, local media reported yesterday.
The new center would be established if a lack of progress in cross-strait talks following an upcoming economic advisory conference prevented the establishment of direct transportation links, according to local media, quoting an unnamed Cabinet official.
The cross-party Economic Development Advisory Conference (
The official said the second offshore trans-shipment center could be opened promptly afterwards as a substitute channel for direct transportation links.
It would be the second such center after Kaohsiung harbor began operating an offshore trans-shipment center in April 1997. At present, Taiwan only allows the trans-shipment of goods between China and third countries.
However, the government last week permitted air links to be added, allowing cargo from China arriving in the trans-shipment center in Kaohsiung to be flown out of Taiwan via local international airports, substantially cutting delivery time.
Direct trade and transportation between the two sides has been banned since 1949.
However, an easing of the ban was introduced in January with the establishment of direct links between two Taiwanese islands and two ports in southern China.
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Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
‘UNITED FRONT’: Some Taiwanese industry leaders had not initially planned to attend, but later agreed to do so after Beijing threatened them, a source said China hopes to rebuild its supply chain by wooing Taiwanese businesses at this year’s Cross-Strait CEO Summit (CSCS) to be held today in the Chinese city of Xiamen, a source said yesterday. This year’s summit would focus on “building a cross-strait industrial chain in the new era and promoting cross-strait economic integration and development,” promotional materials for the event said. The aim is to encourage Taiwanese businesspeople who have exited the Chinese market to return and invest there as a means of countering various technology export controls that China has been encountering, the source said. Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and
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