QUEMOY, Taiwan - Once a military flash point, heavily fortified Quemoy Island is gearing up for the historic, first formal trade and tourist links between Taiwan and the mainland from Monday.

On New Year's Eve, workers were scrambling to finish renovating Quemoy's Liaolo harbor, which will be used by boats making direct sailings between the island and the nearby mainland.

Taiwan is partly opening its doors to China by allowing for the first time direct trade, transport and postal links between its offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu and ports in China's coastal Province of Fujian.

A vessel carrying 56 people, most of them travel agents and hotel executives, is due to sail to the mainland port of Xiamen from the Quemoy on Monday. A boat ride between Quemoy and Xiamen takes about one hour and 20 minutes.

The following day, Quemoy county commissioner Chen Shui-Tsai is due to lead a group of 192 officials and reporters to Xiamen, hoping to accompany back to Quemoy former residents of the island who have been stranded on the mainland since 1949.

A group of Taiwan pilgrims is scheduled to sail from Matsu to the mainland city of Fuzhou to visit a temple on Tuesday.

Taiwan's government hopes the opening of limited exchanges will help improve ties with the mainland and bring prosperity to Quemoy and Matsu, which have long been economic backwaters.

But any improvements are expected to be slow.

China has grudgingly accepted Taiwan's plan to open the limited links, but said it did not go far enough and "indicates that the Taiwan authorities lack sincerity and goodwill in realizing direct services".

Taiwan wants to take things a step at a time, saying wider links between Taiwan and China should hinge on the success of what it calls the "mini three links" and further talks.

Beijing angrily froze talks with Taipei in July 1999 to punish the island for demanding political parity and trying to redefine bilateral relations as "state to state".

China has regarded Taiwan as a breakaway province since a 1949 civil war and has threatened to attack if the island declares independence.

The new Taiwan rules will allow up to 700 Chinese residents to apply to visit Quemoy and Matsu at any one time and to stay for up to seven days, but Beijing has yet to agree to let mainland residents visit the islands. Likewise, tourists from the rest of Taiwan will not be allowed to visit China via Quemoy or Matsu. That makes the liberalization move largely symbolic since it simply legalizes exchanges that already exist. "The current opening has more political implications than economic implications," said Quemoy Harbor Administration Director Chuang Yung-Tsai. "The only hope to improve our standard of living is tourism," Chuang said. "Security is not a problem. Quemoy will not become a military flash point again otherwise the troops would not have withdrawn. Quemoy was shelled for 44 days by the communists in 1958 and at other times through 1979. at the peak of tension, Taiwan sent 120,000 soldiers to protect Quemoy. The number of troops has now dwindled to just over 10,000. Quemoy commissioner Chen hopes that closer links with the mainland will prove the best way to jump-start the island's sluggish economy. Chen said he hopes the tiny island will eventually replace Hong Kong as the main conduit between Taiwan and China. "Quemoy's economy has been sluggish for years. We cannot allow this situation to continue. We feel choosing Xiamen as our partner is a better option," Chen said.

(Reuter)