Penghu Islands Added to the Existing "Mini Three Links"

UNCLAS TAIPEI 000754 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV TW SUBJECT: Penghu Islands Added to the Existing "Mini Three Links" Between Kinmen/Matsu and the PRC's Fujian Province SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (U) During his visit to Penghu Islands on March 31, President Chen Shui-bian announced that, starting April 1, the Penghu Islands will be included in the existing "mini three links." This means that residents of Penghu can travel to China via ferries that connect the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu to Xiamen and Fuzhou on China's coast. Tourists from China can also now travel to Penghu through the same more direct route. ¶2. (SBU) Lin Ping-kun, Penghu's only elected Legislator [(Non-partisan but pro-Kuomintang (KMT)] and Penghu's immigration officials told AIT/K that they welcome the new policy, hoping it will bring tourists from China to the Penghu Islands to boost the tourism business and the local economy. This Legislator suggested that the announcement was made primarily due to political considerations since the legislative and presidential elections are coming soon (December 2007 and March 2008 respectively). He went on to predict that the announcement would boost the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) support among voters in Penghu County, which is now dominated by the KMT. ¶3. (SBU) Immigration officials stated that they have cancelled all immigration staff weekend days off in order to accommodate the processing of paperwork for the anticipated increase in inbound and outbound passengers. The issue of weekends off for immigration staff will be revisited when they see how many travelers are moving in and out of Penghu Islands. They went on to say that under the new policy, traveling between Penghu and Xiamen will take only two hours compared to the previous travel time of seven hours, which routed travelers through Hong Kong or Macao and then through Taipei or Kaohsiung to leave/arrive Penghu. They emphasized that locals expect the new policy to boost the Penghu economy tremendously. ¶4. (SBU) The new policy only applies to travel from Penghu by people who have been registered as residents in Penghu for at least six months. Military personnel, government employees, and teachers cannot utilize the new mini-link to travel to China. According to Penghu National Immigration Agency (NIA) specialist Morgan Wu, qualified Penghu travelers have to apply to a local NIA office for a "Kinmen-Matsu pass" before they can actually use the Penghu mini-link. Director of Penghu Tourism Bureau Hung Tung-lin told us that at this initial stage, Penghu passengers can fly via charter plane from Makung to Kinmen or Matsu and then board a vessel to Xiamen or Fuzhou, China. Chinese travelers can use the reverse route to arrive in Penghu. According to Hung, Far Eastern Air Transport, a local airline, is applying for regularly-scheduled flights connecting Makung to Kinmen and Matsu. Hung estimated that travelers will save around three hours and NT$10,000 (USD300) by traveling the new routes. ¶5. (SBU) Wu told AIT/K that his office has received 40-50 applications and a number of inquiries from residents interested in the mini-link routes during the first two working days (March 31 and April 1). Wu noted that the tourism industry and gravel suppliers (seeking to import cargo from the PRC) expressed the greatest enthusiasm for the new opening. Local tourism operators are hoping that the new mini-link will attract Chinese tourists to make a stop in Penghu for a couple of days before they travel to other parts of Taiwan. Penghu businesspersons who suffer from an insufficient supply of locally excavated gravel hope that they will be able to use cost-saving routes to ship gravel from China. China recently banned all sand and gravel exports, but Taiwan hopes to negotiate an exception to the ban for Taiwan. THIELE WANG