Taiwan, mainland China sea routes could see full reopening after Beijing ‘shows kindness’
- Mainland officials have ‘shown kindness’ toward a full relaunch of the so-called three mini links, Quemoy county magistrate Chen Fu-hai says
- A resumption of sea travel would be another sign of easing tensions, after mainland China on Monday said it would allow some farm and fishery imports
A full reopening of sea-travel routes between mainland China and Taiwan may soon be on the cards, according to a local magistrate, in a development that could help the island’s economy recover after Beijing said it would restart trade in some agricultural products.
Mainland officials have “shown kindness” toward a permanent relaunch of the so-called three mini links – transport, trade and postal services between Taiwan’s offshore islets of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and Matsu, Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzhou in the mainland Chinese province of Fujian, Quemoy county magistrate Chen Fu-hai told the Post on Monday.
The 22-year-old connections were suspended in 2020 by Taiwanese officials due to concerns about coronavirus outbreaks on the mainland.
“It’s absolutely not wrong that the mainland side wants to return the mini three links to normal as soon as possible, and at the same time it indicated that we could raise any requests we might have toward exchanges,” said Chen, who met with mainland officials in January.
