This aerial photo taken in Xiamen, Fujian Province on June 5, 2023 shows the view of Kinmen county, Taiwan island. Photo: VCG

With the release of a new circular, the Chinese mainland is slated to take specific measures to rev up integration and connectivity for Fujian Province and the island of Taiwan, including accelerating construction of a highway that connects people from across the Straits. Experts say such integration will bring visible benefits to both people, and bind them closer together, which will offset the smearing and demonizing of mainland preferential policies hyped by Taiwan secessionists. 

When introducing the measures concerning infrastructure connectivity across the Taiwan Straits, Cong Liang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that they are making efforts to realize the dream for people to take a high-speed train across the Straits, and hopefully more commodities from the island of Taiwan can take China-Europe freight trains and reach the Eurasian continent, benefiting both peoples. 

He also said that Fujian Province has witnessed rapid development in green energy, which makes it capable of transmitting green electricity to Taiwan, thus enhancing energy cooperation between the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan.

The island has suffered from several power outages in the past years.

Those measures were introduced after the State Council released a new circular on Tuesday that outlines supporting measures to develop East China's Fujian Province into the first home for Taiwan compatriots and enterprises in the Chinese mainland. 

The documents said it supports the basic completion of a demonstration zone for integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, and aims for personnel exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan to become more convenient, trade and investment to become smoother, and exchanges and cooperation to expand to a wider and deeper level. 

One of the highlights include the scrapping of temporary residence registration for Taiwan compatriots living in Fujian, encouraging them to purchase property in Fujian, and seeking to include Taiwan compatriots into the local social insurance systems so as to improve the institutional guarantees for them in terms of employment, medical treatment, housing and elderly care services.

Cong introduced on Thursday that the mainland government will push for more convenient channels for exchanges between both sides; establish facilitating policies for investment and trade with the island of Taiwan, and expand openness to cross-border service trade with Taiwan.

Cong said the government will research open access for the entry of Taiwan's information service industry. 

Those measures have already sparked heated discussions among residents in Taiwan. A Taiwan resident who works in the machinery industry and often takes business trips to the mainland told the Global Times on Wednesday that he is interested in the items related to deepening exchanges and industrial cooperation. 

In the first half of this year, the number of Taiwan residents visiting the mainland increased by seven times year on year. Cross-Straits exchanges also gained more steam during the summer vacation period, said Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, during a press conference.

Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University in Fujian, said the measures cover all walks of life for Taiwan residents to work, study and live in Fujian. He expects more specific measures to roll out in the near future and the integration is likely to expand to other parts of the mainland. 

Taiwan local authorities under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) criticized the circular, calling it an attempt made by the mainland authority to lure Taiwan people and enterprises to integrate into the mainland, using economic benefits as cover. It also slammed the document as "wishful thinking."

In recent years, the DPP authority has been trying to threaten and twist the mainland's preferential policies toward Taiwan, and sabotage cross-Straits relations, which makes these preferential policies lose appeal to a certain extent, said Zheng Jian, director of the Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies of Xiamen University. 

He said he believes the newly released circular can bring more substantial benefits to both peoples via integrating them in areas such as the economy, culture and society.

Taiwan secessionists fear cross-Straits integrated development more than anything, said Zheng. He said that the DPP has the tendency to smear or even "demonize" the mainland's beneficial policies for Taiwan people. 

It is almost ridiculous that the DPP even made up a groundless accusation this time saying the mainland issued the circular to "save the property market," said Zheng. DPP and the Taiwan secessionists are intolerant, short-sighted, thus they have won few hearts in Taiwan in recent years, it is obvious what they will end with, said Zheng.