VZCZCXRO3712
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #0754 0940233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040233Z APR 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4755
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6597
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0971
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1805
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5775
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0145
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7846

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