Taiwan, China officials attend Kinmen-Xiamen relay swimming contest

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) An annual long-distance relay swimming contest in the waters between Taiwan's Kinmen islands and China's Xiamen involving participants and officials from both sides of the Taiwan Strait was held on Sunday.

Organized by the Kinmen County government and the Xiamen Municipal People's government, the 12th Kinmen-Xiamen Strait Crossing Swim attracted 200 swimmers mainly from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, according to local newspaper Kinmen Daily News.

Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉), Kinmen County Deputy Magistrate Li Wen-liang (李文良), and officials from China including Ye Desheng (葉得盛), head of the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Sports, and Ruan Dunliang (阮敦梁), head of the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Sports, attended the opening ceremony.

Luo said that that bilateral exchanges are needed while "one-sided disruptions" should be minimized, citing as examples Chinese patrol boats, military aircraft and warships conducting operations near Taiwan.

The SEF vice chairman noted that the direct distance between the contest's starting point in Kinmen and the finishing point in Xiamen was only 6 kilometers.

"Given how close the two sides are, peace should not be that far away," he said.

Luo also said that Taiwan's government is "ready to fully engage in exchanges and hopes to overcome obstacles while maintaining a healthy and orderly process."

The SEF is a semi-official organization tasked by Taiwan's government with handling technical matters in cross-strait relations.

In this year's race, participating swimmers began their journey at 10 a.m. from Shuang Kou Beach in Taiwan's Lieyu Township.

At a halfway point the first swimmer in each two-person team handed off to the second swimmer, who then continued to the end point at Yefengzhai Beach in China's Xiamen.

Except from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kinmen-Xiamen Strait Crossing Swim has been held annually since 2009, with the starting point for the race alternating between Kinmen and Xiamen each year.

Zhaojun Bohang (趙捃博航) and Li Chengyu (李城宇) from China won the men's competition in the 14-30 age bracket by finishing in 88 minutes and 8 seconds, while Lee Kuang-hsin (李光鑫) and Hsu Yi-chun (徐逸君) from Taiwan won in the 31-55 age group in 110 minutes and 3 seconds, according to the Kinmen County government.

Winners for the women's group were Cheng Hanyu (成涵瑀) and Wang Kexin (王可欣) from China, who completed the race in 94 minutes and 22 seconds.

The swim race ended before 1 p.m., the Kinmen County Department of Education said in a press release.

This year's swimming contest takes place during a period of particularly high tensions between Taiwan and China, with Chinese military aircraft making almost daily incursions across the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

After the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who also chairs the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, on May 20, China conducted military exercises in waters around Taiwan, further raising cross-strait tensions.