The unilateral move will hit snags after it officially goes into effect on January 1 due to an absence of cross-Straits co-operation, said Xin Qi, a research fellow with the Beijing-based Centre for Peace and Development Studies.

The researcher said the so-called "mini-three links" proposal is "of no practical significance" and offers "nothing useful" to improve cross-Straits ties.

The two sides of the Taiwan Straits failed to enter talks about the plan because of Taipei's refusal to accept the one-China principle, Beijing's precondition for talks, the researcher said.

Xin's comments followed press reports that Taiwanese authorities on Wednesday finally gave the green light to the plan that will open up direct commercial, shipping and communications links between Taiwan's offshore islands and the Chinese mainland.

Taipei has been imposing a ban for decades on trade, transport and postal links -- dubbed the "three links" -- between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

Scrapping the ban allows residents of Quemoy and Matsu to sail to Xiamen and Fuzhou cities in Fujian Province on the mainland.

Up to 700 Chinese mainland residents can apply to visit Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and Matsu at any one time and stay for up to seven days, according to press reports.

But only Taiwanese vessels can ferry passengers and goods between these islands and Fujian cities while Chinese mainland ships remain barred from docking at Quemoy and Matsu.

Xin said it is just "a mere formality" for Taipei to approve the plan as "the links have been there for a long time."

Despite the Taiwanese ban on direct cross-Straits links, small-scale trading between outlying islands of Taiwan and the Chinese mainland has been picking up since 1990s.

Taipei "is just staging a political show to divert public attention (to its mainland policy) and relieve increasing pressure for developing cross-Straits relations" from growing numbers of politicians and businessmen, Xin said.

Within the island, Fung Hu-hsiang of the New Party reportedly said the scheme amounts to "one way, not two-way traffic."

Taiwan business leaders, including plastics tycoon Wang Yung-ching, have been urging for the ban on trade and transport links between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland to be scrapped.

An official with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said Thursday that his office "may comment on the new development later."

But the official, who declined to be named, said the office's attitude could be summed up by an earlier comment by office spokesman Zhang Mingqing. Zhang, assistant director of the office, said on November 27 that the so-called "mini-three links" is "just an excuse to resist the complete and full three links" between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

"It is not the three links which we have been proposing," said Zhang, adding: "Complaints are heard everywhere" about Taiwan's hesitance to lift the ban.

He said the ban on three links has caused huge inconvenience to people on both sides and especially the economic community.

The huge hike on production costs incurred by the ban has greatly weakened the competitive edge of Taiwan's economy, the official said.

(China Daily 12/15/2000)