Business people from Taiwan want direct sea links

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 ◆ Business people from Taiwan want direct sea links

Direct sea link across the Taiwan Straits will save both money and time, said a Taiwanese businessman who only gave his family name of Zeng.

Zeng is by no means an exception. Latest statistics show that a record 64 percent of Taiwanese would like to see a direct cross-Straits sea link as soon as possible.

Zhen Jiannan, director of an association of Taiwanese businesses in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, said ten years ago he chose to invest in Fuzhou. At that time he thought costs would be low after the direct links in trade, transportation and postal services across the Taiwan Straits were achieved.

But sadly the links do not materialize till now, causing big losses to his business.

Owing to the lack of direct transport, cargo ships from both sides have to travel via ports of other regions, raising transport costs and wasting time.

The Japanese port of Ishigaki, 270 km from Taiwan island, is a major transfer port for freighters from the mainland and Taiwan. It receives more than 2,000 cargo ships each year and earns as much as 1.08 million Japanese yen (9,230 US dollars) in service charges from each ship.

Some Taiwanese businessmen have been driven to seek change by the inconvenience of stalled cross-Straits transport.

At this year's Dragon Boat Festival, over 200 Taiwanese businessmen and their families sailed directly from Xiamen, a port city of Fujian, to Jinmen Island organized by the Xiamen association of Taiwanese businesses.

"We dared to try direct sailing because the trial direct sea links between Jinmen, Mazu, and the coastal areas of Fujian Province have been implemented for more than a year," a Taiwanese businessman said.