Taipei - Taiwan will further ease its curbs on direct links with rival China by allowing residents of the offshore island of Penghu to go to the mainland by way of Kinmen and Matsu, two defence
outposts of Taiwan, a senior official said Tuesday.
"We expect to impose the relaxation measure by the end of March at the latest," said Joseph Wu, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy planning body.
He said residents in Penghu can apply to visit China via Kinmen and Matsu, which are the only two outlets for China-based Taiwanese businessmen and residents of the two tiny islets to go in and out of Taiwan directly.
Taiwan, rival of China since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949, has banned direct travel links with the mainland.
But due to repeated demands by the business sector, Taiwanese authorities finally agreed to forge the so-called "small direct link" with China since 2001 to allow businessmen to go in and out of Taiwan via the two defence outposts to help save the time wasted in traveling.
Except for residents of the two outposts and registered businessmen, all locals must go to China by way of a third area, principally Hong Kong, resulting in more than doubling of time and money in traveling.
If the relaxation is imposed by the end of March, residents of Penghu, the largest offshore island of Taiwan, will become another group of people to be permitted to go to China via Kinmen and Matsu,
accessible by a 30-minute flight from Penghu.
