Taiwan: forum reveals state of cross-strait travel and how to boost it

Straits Forum shows up Taiwanese concerns and the limitations of Beijing’s new policy

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Tourists look at the mainland Chinese city Xiamen, from Taipei-governed Quemoy Island. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:39pm, 17 Jun 2024Updated: 6:52pm, 17 Jun 2024

Amid strained relations between mainland China and Taiwan, a forum in Xiamen, at the front line of cross-strait integration, reveals fewer Taiwanese people are travelling to mainland China, and they are proceeding with caution, concern and limited transport options.

Getting to Taipei-controlled Quemoy Island from Fujian province in mainland China’s southeast is an 18km (9.7 nautical mile) trip taking less than half an hour from the Wutong ferry terminal in the port city of Xiamen.

With the ferry being one of the fastest ways to travel between mainland China and self-ruled Taiwan, the terminal used to be very busy. It allowed travellers to transfer from Quemoy, which is also known as Kinmen, to the island of Taiwan.

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This trip was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was only partially reopened in January last year but cross-strait exchanges have also been hampered by political tensions. Mainlanders are not allowed to travel this route unless they are visiting family or studying in Taiwan.

However, the ferry is now a popular option for Taiwan residents to travel to the mainland because only a small selection of cross-strait flights have resumed to date.

According to Taipei’s Ministry of the Interior, fewer than 730,000 Taiwanese – just 37 per cent of the number in 2019 – travelled by boat from Quemoy to Xiamen and Quanzhou, another Fujian port city, last year.

However, the wharf in Xiamen was bustling last week as the annual Straits Forum opened there on Saturday, an event that gave a window into Taiwanese attitudes towards the mainland.