TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan will bolster its outlying Kinmen islands against Beijing's intensifying unification campaign, the minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 大陸委員會), Taiwan's agency handling relations with China, announced Thursday (April 24). During high-level talks with Kinmen County Magistrate Chen Fu-hai (陳福海), MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) emphasized the urgent need to counter the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP, 中國共產黨) expanding influence operations targeting the strategically located island group.
In an official statement, the council described Minister Chiu's visit as a dual-purpose mission: explaining Taipei's cross-strait policies while collecting local perspectives from Kinmen's leadership. Chiu characterized the island chain, which sits just kilometers from mainland China's coast, as "the frontline of cross-strait exchanges." He promised to strengthen the "Mini Three Links" (小三通), a limited transportation, trade and postal arrangement between Kinmen and China's Fujian province, to stimulate local economic growth while carefully managing the unique challenges of cross-strait interactions.
Minister Chiu pledged that his council would work closely with Kinmen's local government to prioritize residents' security amid growing cross-strait tensions. "We remain firmly committed to Kinmen's infrastructure development and economic vitality," Chiu stated, noting that multiple central government agencies would coordinate efforts to enhance the islands' prosperity despite their vulnerable position. The minister emphasized the critical importance of seamless communication between Taipei and Kinmen's administration to protect Taiwan's broader national interests in the face of increasing pressure from Beijing. ★
