A visiting delegation of Swiss parliamentarians paid a visit to Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen county on Wednesday to get an understanding of local residents’ views about relations with China, during which they met with deputy magistrate Li Wen-liang (???).
Li told the visitors that although Kinmen, located a mere six kilometers from the city of Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province, covers an area of merely about 150 square kilometers in total, it plays a sensitive role when it comes to cross-strait relations.
For instance, while tackling water problems in other places is usually just a livelihood issue, it is a political issue for Taiwan and China when it comes to working together to deal with water shortages in Kinmen, according to Li.
Li was referring to some critics in Taiwan who have expressed concerns about the political and national security implications of an arrangement to secure water with China after a deal was signed in 2015 to channel water from Fujian Province to Kinmen.
Since an undersea pipeline started delivering water from Jinjiang in Fujian to Kinmen in 2018, now 70 percent of the outlying island county’s water is sourced from the Chinese city, Li added.
Li also said that the Kinmen County government was planning to do more to address local residents’ needs for a better life.
In addition to the water pipeline, the county government wants to connect to China’s electricity grid through Xiamen, he added.
Li emphasized that meeting the basic living needs of Kinmen’s residents is closely related to cross-strait relations and is an important and sensitive issue which the local government must face up to directly.
Kinmen must strike a balance amid tensions between Taiwan and China, he added.
The delegation is led by National Councilor Fabian Molina, a co-chair of the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group, and another co-chair of the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary group, National Councilor Nicolas Walder.
The other three members of the delegation are national councilors Mustafa Atici, Leonore Porchet, and Yves Nidegger. The delegation are in Taiwan for a six-day visit and will leave on Friday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel