May 24, 2015
No. 26
Director Zhang Zhijun of the Mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) visited Kinmen with his delegation on May 23 and 24, 2015, at the invitation of Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia, to hold the Third Meeting between the Heads of Cross-Strait Competent Authorities. The MAC also invited industry representatives in Kinmen to a forum held on May 24, 2015. The forum was co-presided by MAC Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia and Kinmen County Magistrate Chen Fu-hai. Director Zhang also took part in the forum, using the opportunity to further understand industry views concerning local specialty products, tourism, commercial and industrial sectors, environmental protection, agricultural and fishing industries, and Mini Three Links.
Representatives of related local industries in Kinmen spoke to Director Zhang about local issues in Kinmen, such as Kinmen's water supply, Mini Three Links operations and tourism development, illegal sea sand dredging, ocean trash, cross-border fishing, and agricultural exports to the Mainland. These related issues have already been handled numerous times through the agreement platform between the relevant authorities of both sides; however, the MAC hoped this opportunity would allow Director Zhang to personally hear the voices of Kinmen industry representatives. It is also hoped that in future cross-strait policy promotion, the Mainland side may actively coordinate their related authorities to strengthen implementation and assist in resolving problems of concern raised by the Kinmen residents.
Director Zhang said that the TAO would fully coordinate the relevant competent authorities to assist the handling of issues raised by Kinmen residents. In closing, the MAC stated that, the problems brought up by Kinmen industry representatives this time are all closely related to the people’s livelihood and the economy, the MAC would actively coordinate the competent authorities to solve these problems. Furthermore, issues such as illegal sea sand dredging, ocean trash, and cross-border fishing are not only related to cross-strait policy, but also to ecological conservation. Therefore, aside from being dealt with through the existing mechanisms under the agreements signed between the two sides, the MAC also calls for the Mainland to place importance on these sort of cross-strait ecological conservation issues and include them into the agenda for future SEF-ARATS negotiations.