Short sea shipping could help the development of local economies. However, direct short sea shipping operations between Taiwan and mainland China have been suspended since 1949 because of political differences. With the growing economic interaction between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, there has been growing demand for direct cross-strait shipping services, which hold great potential for developing short-sea-shipping businesses. Responding to the demand, Taiwan’s government first created the so-called indirect offshore shipping center operations in 1995 and followed this in 2001 by opening the “mini three links”. This paper investigates the issue of direct short sea shipping links across the Taiwan Strait. It begins with a short introduction to the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China. Next is a discussion of the current status of cross-strait short-sea-shipping operations and an assessment of the potential for development from the standpoint of market demand. Some conclusions are presented in the final part.

近洋海運可幫助地方經濟之發展。然而，因為政治因素，自1949 年起台灣與中國大 陸間直接的近洋航線營運即被終止。隨著海峽兩岸經濟交流的增加，兩岸直接通航的需 求，日漸增強；這意謂發展兩岸近洋航線之營運，非常具有潛力。因應需求，台灣政府首 先在1995 年開創境外航運中心業務，其後在2001 年又開放「小三通」的營運。本文首先 介紹台灣與中國大陸間的關係；接著討論兩岸近洋海運發展的現況，並從市場觀點評估兩 岸近洋海運發展的潛力；最後，作一結論。