Dozens of major associations of Taiwanese enterprises on the mainland have issued a joint and urgent call for the island to take legislative steps to pave the way for the establishment of the three direct links across the Taiwan Straits.

Hsieh Kun-tsung, president of the Beijing Association of Taiwanese Enterprises (BATE), told a press briefing Tuesday that an appeal letter has been faxed to the "Legislative Yuan," Taiwan's "parliament," urging the lawmakers to support early realization of the cross-Straits links.

The letter was drafted by Hsieh himself and signed by the heads of "about 70 percent" of the 66 associations of Taiwanese enterprises on the mainland, which represent thousands of firms, according to the BATE president.

"We sincerely hope the ongoing amendment of laws concerning the three links will give consideration to the interests of the nearly 1 million Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland and in Taiwan, as well as to the development of cross-Straits relations in the future," he said.

The call came as the "Legislative Yuan" is hotly debating two versions of a draft bill containing amendments to the Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

The statute, which forbids the three direct links, has served as the legal basis for Taipei's decades-old ban on direct trade, transportation and postal services between Taiwan and the mainland.

The draft bill, submitted by the pro-reunification Kuo Min Tang (KMT), one of the island's two main opposition parties, asks the three direct links be "allowed in principle" to force the Taiwan authorities to scrap the ban.

But another version of the draft bill tendered by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top policy-making body on cross-Straits ties, maintains the ban on the links as stipulated in the statute.

The "Legislative Yuan" plans to approve amendments to the Statute in November.

Hsieh expressed his worry that if the MAC version is passed, it will dash hopes on both sides of the straits for the opening of the three links as soon as possible.

"An early implementation of the three links is both pressing and necessary, given the fact that the absence of the links has been causing huge economic losses to Taiwan's economy," Hsieh said.

Because of Taipei's prohibition on direct transport links, passengers and cargo moving across the straits must first go to Hong Kong or Macao, adding time and cost and even increasing the risk of loss of life, according to Hsieh.

(China Daily October 16, 2002)