Mainland China will continue to supply safe and high-quality water to Kinmen to improve the lives of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday.
Chen made the remarks while responding to media inquiries about the water supply project at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
By early July, the cumulative volume of water supplied from Fujian to Kinmen had exceeded 50 million tons, with 100 percent compliance with water quality standards, according to official data. This milestone caused a positive reaction among netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Chen said: “We have always attached great importance to and actively supported the economic and social development of Kinmen, constantly taking measures to enhance the interests and welfare of Kinmen compatriots. The coastal Fujian to Kinmen water supply project was officially opened on August 5, 2018.”
“Currently, the average daily water supply from coastal Fujian to Kinmen is about 22,000 tons. The project has continuously provided the water needs of the compatriots in Kinmen, and has effectively helped conserve Kinmen’s groundwater, meeting the immediate livelihood needs of Kinmen, eliminating the future problems of its development, and has therefore been warmly welcomed by the compatriots of Kinmen. “Compatriots on both sides of the strait are one family and live in the same water. The Fujian Coastal Water Supply Project to Kinmen has become a model for cross-strait cooperation in the livelihood sector. In the future, we will continue to supply safe, high-quality and clean water to Kinmen and use this living water to support livelihoods on both sides of the strait,” Chen said.
Mainland pledges to continue supplying water to Kinmen to support livelihoods across the strait
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an immediate halt to all trade, including visits with Spain, criticizing Spain’s lack of participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance during a NATO summit held in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Speaking to reporters alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of the summit’s official main session, Trump said Spain was a waste and that he “no longer wants to do any trading business with Spain.”
The US president then publicly instructed his administration to sever trade ties. Addressing US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump said that Spain is a terrible partner in NATO.
They don’t participate, they don’t pay, he said.
Noting that he wanted nothing to do with Spain, he stated that he was stopping all trade with Spain, including visits.
Spain recently refused to meet NATO’s new defense spending target of 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and refused to allow the United States to use its airspace or territory for operations during the war with Iran.
The NATO Leaders’ Summit opened in Ankara on Tuesday with a defense industry forum presenting key defense industry initiatives aimed at accelerating arms production and procurement.
Trump orders a halt to US trade with Spain during NATO summit