2 Taiwan Boats Make Direct Voyages to China

MATSU, Taiwan — About 700 travelers left two Taiwanese islands in separate boats for China today in the first legal, direct voyages to the mainland in more than five decades.

The trips, which began to the sound of gongs and fireworks, came a day after another Taiwanese boat failed in its effort to inaugurate Taiwan’s relaxation of a ban on direct shipping between two outlying islands--Matsu and Quemoy--and China.

Many hope that the easing of travel restrictions will help bring peace between Taiwan and China, which split amid civil war in 1949.

One boat, from the island of Quemoy, docked in the Chinese port of Xiamen shortly before noon today. Two dozen uniformed police officers and local officials were on hand to greet the 190 Taiwanese officials and community leaders who arrived aboard the vessel.

The boat traveling from Matsu, a second Taiwanese islet just off China’s southeastern coast, arrived almost simultaneously in another Chinese port, Fuzhou, according to Taiwanese media aboard the vessel. The ship was carrying more than 500 people.

The passengers on the boat that left Matsu are worshipers of the goddess Matsu, the patron of fishermen.

On Monday, another boat had tried to leave from Quemoy. Gusty winds and high waves, however, prevented the vessel from reaching its destination, Xiamen.