China travel restrictions to be relaxed

Regulations on travel from Taiwan to China via Kinmen and Matsu will be relaxed as early as this week to facilitate the development of the outlying islands, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said yesterday.

Direct cross-strait travel is still restricted to a ferry service between the offshore islands and China's Fujian Province, also known as the "small three links," which was implemented in January 2001.

Travel agencies in Kinmen and Matsu will be allowed to advertise the route from China to Taiwan via the "small three links" to Chinese and to allot the same number of Taiwanese to travel to China via the route, Chen said.