Ma Xiaoguang Photo: cnsphoto
There are no obstacles on the mainland side to the resumption of direct commuting between the Fujian coast and the Kinmen and Matsu islands, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday, while urging the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities on the island of Taiwan to lift its suspension of the commute as soon as possible for the benefits of the people on both sides of the Straits.
In February 2020, the DPP authorities unilaterally interrupted the direct commute between the coastal areas of Fujian and the Kinmen and Matsu areas on the grounds of epidemic prevention and control, seriously affecting the exchanges between people on both sides of the Straits, especially people from Fujian and Taiwan Island.
Those who put the suspension in place need to release it in terms of resuming the "three direct links" across the Taiwan Straits, the spokesperson said.
It is believed that businesses on both sides of the Straits would not have any objections either, since there is a set of effective and mature norms and practices, Ma noted.
If the DPP authorities are truly sympathetic to the people on the island, they should take actions to remove the artificial restrictions as soon as possible, and stop harming the vital interests of compatriots on both sides of the Straits, especially those in the Kinmen and Matsu islands, Ma noted.
"We have always encouraged personnel exchanges between the two sides of the Straits, and there is no problem with the exchange of personnel between the two sides under the circumstances of their own efforts to prevent and control the epidemic," Ma said.
As long as the DPP authorities remove the obstacles they have set up, relevant operators on both sides of the Straits can deal with specific issues such as flights according to the actual needs of people on both sides, he said.
It is hoped that the DPP authorities will lift the relevant restrictions as soon as possible, so as to avoid harming the interests of compatriots on both sides of the Straits, Ma said.
Global Times