The government made a “difficult” yet “humane” decision to restore limited access to the “small three links,” connecting Kinmen and Matsu counties with China, to registered residents of the counties after evaluating the outlying islands’ medical capacity, public health risks and opinions of local officials, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said yesterday.
Chiu was asked to brief members of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on how the government rationalized its decision to temporarily resume direct ferry and flight services from Saturday next week to Feb. 6 for homebound travelers during the Lunar New Year holiday, after hundreds of people on Sunday demanded that Taiwanese studying or working in China who are residents of other counties be allowed to transit through the “small three links” to return to Taiwan as well.
“The decision was made after considering the limited healthcare capacities on Kinmen and Mastu. After arriving at the outlying islands through ferries, travelers must transfer from seaports to airports, and unpredictable lengths of stay could significantly increase the risks of COVID-19 spreading to residents from travelers returning from China,” Chiu said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Prior to the announcement of the policy on Thursday last week, the council had consulted newly elected Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) and Lienchiang County Commissioner Wang Chung-ming (王忠銘), along with legislators Jessica Chen (陳玉珍) and Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), representing Kinmen and Lienchiang counties respectively, Chiu said.
Leaders of Kinmen and Matsu Fellow-Townsmen associations in Taiwan also recommended that the links be reinstated in different phases, Chiu said, adding that people should respect the concerns of government officials and residents in the two counties.
“Certain politicians and media outlets intentionally distorted the purpose of the government’s policy for the ‘small three links,’ saying that it was an ill-conceived plan that was designed for political reasons,” Chiu said.
“In fact, the plan is the beginning of resuming normal operations in the near future,” he said, adding that a staged restart is the cautious approach to a transition to full access.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who also heads of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told the committee that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting COVID-19 case numbers that are about 100 times lower than what is considered realistic.
Kinmen and Matsu each only have one hospital, Victor Wang said, adding that both have adequate capacity to treat their residents.
However, the hospitals would not be able to treat additional patients if all Taiwanese are allowed to transit to China through the counties, he said.
As of yesterday, only five beds were left at the intensive care units in Kinmen Hospital, and not one was available on Matsu, he said, adding that some hospitalized COVID-19 patients must be airlifted to Taiwan proper for treatment.
“Whether Taiwanese live abroad in China, or in Kinmen or Matsu, we need to consider one another’s concerns, and think about whether transiting through the ‘small three links’ is really necessary, given that China’s COVID-19 cases are escalating,” Victor Wang said.
It would be extremely difficult for Taiwan to donate COVID-19 vaccines to China, given complicated issues surrounding the issue, although Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control has considered the option, he said.
“We would have to see if Beijing has granted emergency use authorization for the vaccines we are about to donate, and whether it would accept such an arrangement,” Victor Wang said.
Given that 30 to 60 percent of seats remain available on flights from the four Chinese cities that have direct flights to Taiwan over the Lunar New Year, Taiwanese in China should first consider using that option before considering one of the “three small links,” he said, citing Civil Aeronautics Administration data.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS