Cross-Strait direct links foster closer ties with growing connectivity

Sunday marked the 16th anniversary of the opening of the "mini three links" across the Taiwan Strait, comprising air, sea, and postal services, which have significantly enhanced cross-Strait connectivity.

The Wutong Ferry Terminal in Xiamen City of east China's Fujian Province is a bustling hub offering a round-trip service between Xiamen and Kinmen of China's Taiwan region.

Initially launched in 2001, the route became part of the broader "mini three links" in 2008 and has since transported over 20 million passengers.

Its service was suspended for almost three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was resumed in January last year. Since resumption, the round-trip operations have increased from two per day to 20, serving more than 1.15 million passenger trips in total.

"For those regular commuters traveling back and forth frequently, their biggest need is to clear customs quickly as soon as they arrive. It has to be fast and efficient. Therefore, we have established the nation's largest quick customs clearance information collection point for compatriots in Taiwan at the ferry terminal," said Chen Jinlai, deputy chief of the Gaoqi Border Inspection Station of Xiamen Entry and Exit Border Inspection Station.

"The ferry is quite comfortable within the mini three links," said a passenger from Kinmen.

"I've been taking the ferry at the Wutong terminal for over a decade," said another passenger from Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

Many travelers from the mainland, especially those from Fujian to the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, can be seen after the resumption of travel.

"We will travel there (Kinmen) for two days. The customs clearance is basically self-service. There's the fast channel for senior people on wheelchairs. It's very convenient," said a passenger from the mainland.

"I traveled [to Kinmen] before. But this is my first time riding a bicycle there," said another passenger from the mainland.

In Xiamen, the cross-Strait postal service also plays an important role in communication across the Strait. At a mail processing center with the China Post, staff have been busy sorting packages sent between the mainland and the Taiwan region.

"Since our mail exchange center started operation in 2008, we have processed thousands of mails and parcels on a daily basis. On July 30 this year, we resumed the two-way mail route between Xiamen and Kinmen," said Cai Chunmei, head of the Xiamen-Taiwan Mail Exchange Center.

These services are an epitome of the "mini three links" across the Taiwan Strait. Since 2008 or even much before that, they have facilitated the flow of people, goods, and capital, playing a substantial role in enhancing common interests, especially for the people of the Taiwan region.

Cross-Strait direct links foster closer ties with growing connectivity

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival