New cable set to improve cross-Strait links

A communication cable directly linking the Chinese mainland with Taiwan will be put into use tomorrow, according to a Chinese mainland spokesman.

Construction of the submarine fiber-optic cable has already been completed, Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said yesterday.

Once put into use, the cable will make it much easier for people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to communicate, Yang said.

Yang said it is "good news" for the mainland and Taiwan, as it is another step in developing the "three direct links" of cross-Strait mail, trade, as well as air and shipping services.

At a length of 270 kilometers, the cable connects Fuzhou City in Fujian Province and Taiwan's Tamsui.

According to the spokesman, several telecommunication operators on both sides of the Strait have invested in the project, which utilizes the most advanced transmission technologies.

Yang also expressed the mainland's willingness to provide water to people in the Kinmen archipelago, located off the coast off Fujian, to help alleviate a water shortage.

"We have been concerned about the water shortage problem and will provide any support to our compatriots in Kinmen as long as it can help," Yang said.

"Coastal areas in Fujian are ready to supply water to Kinmen anytime upon the island's approval," he added.

Yang said the mainland has approved 325 extra flights across the Strait during the Spring Festival holiday.

The mainland's civil aviation authority received 340 applications for extra flights from airline companies on both sides, Yang said.

The civil aviation authority approved 224 extra flights to be operated by six mainland airlines, and 101 of 110 applications by six airlines based in Taiwan were approved, according to Yang.

The spokesman said the extra flights will shuttle between Taiwan and 22 mainland cities. The destinations include eight new cities such as Urumqi, Hohhot and Yinchuan.

A record high of 7.97 million people traveled across the Taiwan Strait in 2012, Yang added.

Mainland tourists to Taiwan topped 1.97 million last year, up 57.5 percent year on year, the spokesman said.

Yang also reaffirmed the country's opposition to arms sales by the US to Taiwan and urged Washington to adhere to the one-China policy.

"Our stance toward US arms sales, as you are clearly aware, is that we firmly oppose them," Yang said.