Ferry links between China and Taipei-controlled Kinmen and Matsu will be partially re-opened to residents of the two outlying counties and their Chinese spouses during the Lunar New Year holidays, Taiwan’s government announced Thursday.
At a Cabinet press conference, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the top government agency handling cross-strait affairs, revealed the government’s plan to partially re-open the ferry services between Kinmen and Matsu, and China’s Fujian Province from Jan. 7- Feb. 6.
MAC official Yeh Kai-ping (???) said there would be at most once-daily ferry trips to China from Kinmen and no more than two trips per week from Matsu.
The 2023 Lunar New Year’s day falls on Jan. 22, with the holidays in Taiwan spanning from Jan. 20-29.
However, the limited services will be available only for Kinmen and Matsu residents, and their Chinese spouses and children, Yeh said, adding that Taiwanese people working or studying in China and Chinese travelers would not be permitted on the ferries.
Yeh added the limited ferry services during the Lunar New Year’s holidays could pave the way for the services’ full resumption.
The ferry services was launched on Jan. 1, 2001 between Kinmen and Matsu, and Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province.
Travel between the two sides was suspended by Taiwan’s government on Feb. 10, 2020 amid concerns over the spiraling COVID-19 outbreak in China.
MAC Minister Chiu Tai-san (???) said at the press conference that the plan to partially provide ferry services between Taiwan and China could be “a start” to resuming the ferry links.
Nevertheless, Chiu noted that the resumption of such ferry links would be a decision made between Taiwanese and Chinese authorities.
He went on to say that the Taiwanese side would continue gauging the COVID-19 situation in China before making further decisions on the matter.
Chiu also indicated that the government had not decided to roll out its plan earlier than Thursday not only because of a recent surge of COVID-19 cases in China, but also of Beijing’s growing military and economic coercion against Taiwan.
Chiu said the government’s plan had excluded China-based Taiwanese people who wish to take the ferry to Kinmen or Matsu, where they can then fly back to Taiwan, at the request of the two county governments.
According to Chiu, if those people contract COVID-19 in China, they might spread the virus during their stopovers in Kinmen or Matsu.
Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Victor Wang (???), meanwhile, described it as “not appropriate” to allow Taiwanese people and their China-based families who wish to return to Taiwan to transfer via Kinmen or Matsu.
With a spike in COVID-19 cases in China, they have a high chance of contracting the disease there, Wang said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the increasing reports of severe COVID-19 cases in China.
Michael Ryan, the WHO’s head of emergencies, told the BBC Wednesday that intensive care units (ICU) in China seemed to be filling up despite relatively low COVID-19 cases reported by Chinese officials.
Wang said there was only one hospital each in Kinmen and Matsu with very limited wards that could accommodate COVID-19 patients, adding that a slight increase in COVID-19 cases could cause “a heavy healthcare burden” on the two hospitals.
On the other hand, the government’s plan has met with a frosty reception from Wu Chia-ying (???), head of a Taiwanese business group whose 1,200 corporate members operate mainly in Xiamen.
Wu told CNA that numerous Taiwanese people had been looking forward to returning to Taiwan with their family members and that some of them had hoped to do so by transferring in Kinmen or Matsu.
Wu said while he could understand that there was limited medical capacity in these two regions, the government should “defy all odds” to help Taiwanese people return home for the Lunar New Year’s holidays.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-jong (???) said Taiwanese people wishing to return to Taiwan from China for the Lunar New Year’s holidays should take flights from the Chinese city of Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu or Xiamen.
The flights from China to Taiwan before the Lunar New Year’s Day are currently 30 percent to 60 percent full on average, Chi said, citing data from Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel