China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) yesterday discussed domestic concerns in Kinmen County such as water and power, proposing that residents in the county and those of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province are “like a family.”
Kinmen faces various challenges as it pursues development, Zhang said after a closed-door meeting with Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海).
“The visit was for field research to understand problems facing Kinmen and to get firsthand information, so we can study the issues further after I go back, and come up with solutions through future communications between both sides,” Zhang said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“A family that lives in harmony will prosper and it will succeed in all undertakings,” Zhang said, referring to a Chinese-language saying. “There is no difficulty that cannot be solved.”
One of the problems discussed in talks between Zhang and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) on Saturday was a pending contract between the Kinmen County Government and a Chinese Fujian Province-owned water corporation to introduce water from a reservoir in Quanzhou to Kinmen.
During a visit to the Tianpu Reservior (田埔水庫), the destination of a planned 17km undersea pipeline from Longhu in Quanzhou, MAC Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) said the project would not only help with water shortages, but also signifies “a step forward in cross-strait relations.”
“We are looking forward to signing the contract,” Zhang said.
“We are of the same family and we all drink water from the same river,” he added.
Kinmen County Bureau of Public Works section head Chang Wu-ta (張武達) said that at the initial stage of its completion, the project would provide 25 percent of the county’s water, which currently comes from underground sources.
“Although water shortage problems have not occurred [recently], we need to look for alternative water sources so we can preserve underground water resources,” Chang said.
Residents of Kinmen have mixed feelings about the project.
An employee at Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor (金門酒廠) surnamed Hsu (許) said he believed that the project was welcomed by a majority of people in Kinmen.
“It is true that we have not faced rationed water supplies, but sufficient water supply is important for the development of the tourism industry,” Hsu said.
A 58-year-old taxi driver surnamed Chuang (莊) said he does not feel comfortable with Kinmen tapping water from China.
“The problem of lack of water has existed since I was young. We were fine without water supplies from China when there were 100,000 soldiers stationed in Kinmen in the past. Now there are only 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers here and there has been a steady process of population outflow,” he said. “However, it is true that construction of more and more bitumen roads have caused a decrease in underground water.”
The county government is also seeking to obtain electricity from China.
“Ensuring a stable supply of water and electricity is vital to Kinmen. We hope that [Beijing] will enhance its strength in offering necessary assistance to us, because people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are close — like a family — and can work together to realize the ‘Zhonghua dream’ (中華夢),” Chen said.
In expressing his gratitude to Zhang after their meeting, Chen addressed him as lingdao (領導) from Beijing,” a Chinese term which generally means “leader.”
A county government official who wished to remain anonymous said some high-ranking executives at China’s state-owned power corporations visited Kinmen in recent years to learn about its power supply situation.
In an apparent move to dispel possible doubts about reliance on China, Zhang told reporters: “Livelihood issues should not be politicized.”
“Politics is to serve for a better livelihood. There is no way that the water we will provide people in Kinmen with is ‘political water,’” Zhang said. “We can also discuss possible solutions to the problem of power supply.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan Solidarity Union Department of Youth Affairs director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) said the group decided not to tail Zhang as originally planned, because they had received safety threats and parents had called to express concern after an attack by unidentified black-clad menduring their protest against Zhang on Saturday.
Banners reading “Cross-Strait Peace” and “Welcome Minister Zhang Zhijun” were seen in the streets around Kinmen.
A female taxi driver said she received NT$1,500 for having a “Cross-Strait Peace” banner on her car window.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS