A Chinese mainland spokesman on Wednesday said that there are no obstacles on the mainland side to resuming normal cross-Strait maritime passenger transport routes.
Chen Binhua, spokesman of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the statement at a press conference in Beijing after Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it would "continuously assess the timing and conditions" for resuming direct sea passenger transport based on travel demand and overall cross-Strait relations.
"Both the swift resumption of the 'mini three links' maritime passenger transport routes after the pandemic and our unremitting efforts to restore the 'three direct links' demonstrate our sincere commitment to promoting the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Currently, the vast majority of our compatriots in Taiwan eagerly anticipate the restoration of cross-strait direct ferry services," Chen told the press conference.
"We attach great importance to this matter and have completed all necessary preparations. There are absolutely no obstacles on the mainland side to resuming normal cross-strait maritime passenger transport routes," he said.
"The Taiwan side should fully heed the appeals of people and shipping enterprises across the Strait and promptly restore all direct maritime passenger transport routes, including the Pingtan-Taipei, Pingtan-Taichung, Xiamen-Taichung, Xiamen-Keelung, and Zhejiang's Damaiyu-Keelung routes," said the spokesman.
The "three direct links" refer to direct mail, transport and trade links across the Taiwan Strait, while the "mini three links" are on a smaller scale between Fujian province, Kinmen Island and the Matsu Island group.
Mainland sets no obstacles to resuming cross-Strait ferry services: spokesman
China aims to achieve secure and reliable supply of key core artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027, with its industrial scale and empowerment level remaining among the world's forefront, according to a recent government action plan.
The plan, jointly issued by eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, outlines an ambitious push to deeply integrate AI with the manufacturing sector, foster new quality productive forces and comprehensively empower new industrialization. By 2027, the plan targets the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in manufacturing, the development of specialized, full-coverage industry-specific large models, the creation of 100 high-quality industrial datasets, and the promotion of 500 typical application scenarios.
It also aims to cultivate two to three globally influential ecosystem-leading enterprises, a batch of specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises, and a group of enabling service providers proficient in both AI technology and industry know-how.
Furthermore, China plans to build a world-leading open-source ecosystem, enhance security governance capabilities, and contribute Chinese solutions to global AI development.
The document outlines measures including promoting the coordinated development of AI chips' hardware and software, supporting innovations in model training and inference methods, fostering key industry-specific large models, and deeply embedding large model technology into core production processes.
The plan also emphasizes making breakthroughs in key technologies such as security protection for industrial model algorithms and training data protection.
China aims for secure, reliable supply of AI core tech by 2027
