Cross-Strait ‘Mini Three Links’ Ferry Routes Hit Record 2.03M Annual Passengers

Record ridership on the Mini Three Links routes points to resilient people-to-people traffic between Fujian and Taiwan's outlying islands, a channel that has kept functioning through periods of political friction. The significance lies less in the headline number than in what it says about grassroots demand for direct links — a constituency with a stake in keeping these smaller crossings open even as broader cross-strait relations remain strained. Whether this volume holds through the rest of the year, and whether the trend draws any policy response around capacity or route frequency, is the open question worth watching.