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Taiwan media group tour in Fujian province

By Wei Tian (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-11 17:42

FUZHOU - Media from both sides of the Taiwan Straits will be joining hands on a seven-day tour of Fujian province, ready to discover the achievements of recent years reached by neighboring corporations in the Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits (Haixi).

Journalists from 20 agencies will be visiting six central cities in Haixi: Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen, Putian, Zhangzhou and Longyan.

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The group will also take tours of businesses and museums established via cooperation by the two sides in areas such as trade, agriculture, tourism, and culture communication.

"The efforts made by people in Fujian in recent years on improving the relationship across the straits has not only intensified the cooperation, but also brought more and more mutual benefits for the people of the two sides," said Zhu Qing, deputy director of the Publicity Department of Fujian province, at the launching ceremony.

Zhu remembered his visit last May to Jinmen, where he saw a slogan reading, "Taiwan is just one drink away from the mainland." "But the emotion blended in this drink is more precious than anything in the world," he said.

"Fujian and Taiwan have truly been brought closer than ever before," said Zhang Mingqing, deputy president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). "This tour of media groups from the two sides, on the occasion of one year after the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Haixi, is of momentous significance."

Zhang also suggested that the tour group could focus more on the east coast of the Taiwan Straits in the future, and communication between media across the straits can provide impetus to interactions in other areas.

The visit was initiated by China National Radio and Information office of the Fujian Government.

The media group consists of 14 from Taiwan and six from the mainland.

"The customs of local villagers are almost the same as what we have in Taiwan," said Lin Kelun, a special correspondent with China Times, a Taiwan newspaper. "We have the same food, similar building style of Xiamen and Quanzhou as in my hometown. Everything here reminds me of my childhood."