Taiwan, mainland China sea routes could see full reopening after Beijing ‘shows kindness’

Mainland officials have ‘shown kindness’ toward a full relaunch of the so-called three mini links, Quemoy county magistrate Chen Fu-hai says
A resumption of sea travel would be another sign of easing tensions, after mainland China on Monday said it would allow some farm and fishery imports

Taiwan economy

Ralph Jennings

Published: 7:00pm, 14 Feb 2023

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A full reopening of sea-travel routes between mainland China and Taiwan may soon be on the cards, according to a local magistrate, in a development that could help the island’s economy recover after Beijing said it would restart trade in some agricultural products.

Mainland officials have “shown kindness” toward a permanent relaunch of the so-called three mini links – transport, trade and postal services between Taiwan’s offshore islets of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and Matsu, Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzhou in the mainland Chinese province of Fujian, Quemoy county magistrate Chen Fu-hai told the Post on Monday.

The 22-year-old connections were suspended in 2020 by Taiwanese officials due to concerns about coronavirus outbreaks on the mainland.

“It’s absolutely not wrong that the mainland side wants to return the mini three links to normal as soon as possible, and at the same time it indicated that we could raise any requests we might have toward exchanges,” said Chen, who met with mainland officials in January.

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Ferry links were restarted on a limited scale last month, but a full reopening would show “goodwill”, said Huang Kwei-bo, an associate professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei.

Before their closure, the mini three links were a crucial source of tourism for the Taiwanese islands of Quemoy and Matsu, with visitors from Fujian taking a 20-minute ferry ride to look at nature and historical sites.

“The Quemoy and Matsu regions have been relying on domestic travel during the pandemic, so if they can get mainland tourists, that would be another source of income,” said Bian Chieh-min, the general manager of Phoenix Tours in Taipei and a former board member with a Taiwanese travel association.

Some hotels, restaurants and travel agencies have been impacted by suspension of the ferry routes, Bian said.

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A full reopening of mini three links would bring in 10 times the number of visitors Quemoy sees now, said Chen. About 900,000 people reached the islets every year before 2020, he said.

But exchanges worked both ways. Before 2020, Taiwanese investors would often fly from Taipei to Quemoy and transfer to ferries bound for Xiamen, saving time and money compared to other passages into the mainland.

If services were resumed, some Quemoy locals would even take ferries to the mainland for work and to visit investment properties, said Liu Pei-yi, head of the international and mainland studies department at Kinmen University.

Taiwan’s central government would need to approve a reopening of the three links, with mainland sign-off.

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“People in Quemoy have a mentality of looking forward to a reopening,” Liu said. “From the central government point of view, they’re thinking about security.”

A resumption of sea travel would be another sign of easing political tensions, after mainland China on Monday said in a statement it would allow some agricultural and fishery imports from Taiwan once again.

The mainland has suspended a variety of goods since March 2021, officially over parasites and pesticides, though analysts have said it could also be on account of political reasons.

Relations between Taiwan and mainland China, which sees the island as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, have been a diplomatic flashpoint in worsening US-China relations under both presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

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In December, mainland China suspended imports from eight Taiwanese drink exporters and 105 seafood vendors, officials in Taiwan said. Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration said the mainland side had rejected the applications for lack of data on ingredients and processing technology.

Last month the mainland said 63 exporters including a prized brand of hard liquor had made a list of goods that could restart shipments as those firms met customs requirements.

“It’s of course a positive development if they want to help the farming or fishing industries,” said Wu Tzu-jung, secretary general of the Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association, on Tuesday.

Some of her association’s 200 members are still reapplying for mainland import permits but for lack of “specifics” they are unsure how to fill out new applications, she said.