Annual Cross-Strait Swimming Event Canceled Over Permit Issues

TaiwanPlus News

An annual swimming event between Taiwan's outlying Kinmen Islands and the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen has been canceled this year after Chinese swimmers were not issued the permits they needed to be able to swim into Taiwan's waters. The news comes after Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it did not support the event, suggesting it was a threat to national security.

Transcript

00:00An annual swimming competition between Taiwan's outlying Jinmen Islands and China's coastal city of Xiamen has been canceled this year,

00:07after Chinese swimmers were not issued the entry permits they needed to be able to swim into Taiwan's waters.

00:14This year's competition was hosted by the Xiamen government and would have started there,

00:19with swimmers crossing into Kinmen to finish the race.

00:22To participate, Chinese swimmers needed permission from Taiwan's sports administration to enter the waters around Kinmen.

00:28But just days before the event was supposed to happen on July 26th, they still hadn't received those permits.

00:49Whether or not the event would take place this year had already been in doubt for some time,

00:53after Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which governs relations with China,

00:57said earlier this month that it did not support it, calling it part of China's efforts to influence Taiwan.

01:02The council also suggested the event could threaten Taiwan's maritime security,

01:24as it would involve Chinese boats and swimmers entering Taiwan's waters.

01:27This is particularly sensitive considering the repeated incursions of Chinese Coast Guard ships into Kinmen's restricted waters since 2024.

01:35It's not clear whether the permit issues were influenced by these concerns.

01:39Taiwan Plus reached out to the sports administration, but it said it could not provide any details.

01:44Meanwhile, China's Taiwan Affairs Office has criticized obstruction of the event,

01:49saying it goes against the wishes of the people on both sides of the strait for exchanges and closer ties.

01:54It's not clear if this means the event will be canceled in future years,

01:58but it is clear that rising tensions between Taiwan and China are making any sort of cross-strait event contentious.

02:04Howard Zhang and Cadence Quanta for Taiwan Plus.

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