Taiwan on Saturday further opened travel and trade links with China to prepare for fully opening sea, air and trade links with the mainland, REPORTED DPA. Joseph Wu, director of the Mainland Affairs Council, said that starting April 1, Taiwan would allow residents of Taiwan's Penghu Islands to go to China's Fujian Province for sightseeing and trade, and vice verse. This is an expansion of the Three Mini Links launched in 2001, when Taipei allowed travel and trade links between Taiwan's Kinmen and Matsu islets and Fujian. Kinmen and Matsu are Taiwan-held islets on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, just off China's Fujian coast. Penghu (Pescadores) Islands are a group of 64 islets in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. The expansion means that Taiwan will let Chinese residents get closer to Taiwan without stepping on Taiwan proper, for security reasons.
