Taiwan-China Cruise Back On Course

M A T S U, Taiwan, Jan. 1 -- About 500 Taiwanese left the tiny island ofMatsu and set sail for China today, the first legal directvoyage to the mainland in more than five decades.

The trip came a day after another Taiwanese boat failed in itseffort to inaugurate Taiwan’s relaxation of a ban on directshipping between two outlying islands and China.

Many hope easing restrictions on the travel will help bringpeace between the rivals, who split amid civil war in 1949.

The passengers on the boat that left Matsu, just off the coastof China, are worshippers of the goddess Matsu, the patron offishermen popular in Taiwan and southeastern China.

First Aborted Mission

Earlier, another group tried to leave from Kinmen, anotherTaiwanese island off the coast of China. Matsu and Kinmen are theonly parts of Taiwan that are opening the direct trading andshipping links with China.

Gusty winds and high waves forced the other boat from reachingits destination, the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen. Anotherboat plans to leave Kinmen on Tuesday carrying a delegation led byKinmen County Commissioner Chen Shui-tsai.

Those boarding the boat in Matsu said they were thrilled to betesting Taiwan’s new policy.

“I got up at 2 a.m. for this trip. I want to see my relativesand I want to see China,” said Chen Pao-chu, 60, a pharmacist.

Direct Traffic in Future?

China once pounded heavily fortified Kinmen and Matsu with tensof thousands of artillery shells in the 1950s. The artillerybarrages ended years ago, and now people on both sides engage in abustling illegal trade in seafood, produce and consumer goods.Taiwan’s relaxation of the ban on direct links essentiallydecriminalizes the smuggling.

If all goes well, the government has said it will make an evenbigger move: opening direct air and shipping traffic between Chinaand the main island of Taiwan. The two territories are separated bythe 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.

Now, Taiwanese who do business in China—Taiwan’s No. 2 marketfor trade and investment—can’t travel or ship their goodsdirectly to the mainland.