Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Su had planned to make a celebratory announcement of the policy adjustment from Kinmen, but was forced to cancel his symbolic speech there when bad weather left him stranded at Taipei's Songshan Airport.
The government allows postal, cargo and personal transport via sea links between Kinmen and Xiamen, as well as Matsu and Fuzhou under the "small three links." Regulations restrict the exchanges to residents of Kinmen and Matsu, traveling in a group with a minimum of 10 people.
However, Su announced that starting next Monday, the government will suspend the minimum group requirement -- permitting individuals to travel alone -- and will add a new shipping route between Kinmen and Quanzhou on June 1.
"This idea came from Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (
In addition, people who are registered residents of Kinmen or Matsu for at least six months will also be allowed to use the small three links to travel to and from China accompanied by dependents and relatives who do not live on the islands.
Taiwanese businesspeople with operations in China, veterans who were born in Fujian Province or who have Fujianese ancestry and Fujian residents married to Taiwanese may also use the small three links.
The small three links were implemented on Jan. 1, 2001. In the first year, approximately 25,000 people traveled using the links. That number has climbed steadily, and last year 555,000 travelers had taken advantage of the links to travel to China.
Su also extended an invitation to the Chinese government to participate in search-and-rescue drills in the area.
Su said the two governments should be able to cooperate more effectively during such operations to ensure the safety of passengers who travel between Taiwan and China by sea.
"If they [Chinese rescuers] and we are familiar with the drills, we will be able to help whoever needs help at the first instance, and could save a lot of lives should an accident take place," Su said.
"We believe that the relationship between Taiwan and China should be to help each other instead of fight each other," he said. "I must say, these new decisions were the results of our brainstorming instead of impromptu statements."
Su said that President Chen Shui-bian (
The premier was planning to lead a group of 45 reporters to land on Kinmen and make his announcements there. However, the continuous heavy rain forced the air force to cancel the flight. Su then organized a press conference at the Songshan air base.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS