Standing on the Taiwan-held island of Quemoy, one can see through binoculars people going about their business on mainland China. The Chinese city of Xiamen is only half an hour away on a boat with an outboard engine.
But, officially, the 51,000 inhabitants of Kinmen may not cross over. Anyone wishing to reach the mainland opposite must make a 1,000-mile journey via Taiwan and Hong Kong. This restriction arises from the state of no peace, no war which has existed for half a century between China and Taiwan, during which the government in Taipei has banned direct trade, post and travel.
But just three days after defying Beijing by electing a pro-independence candidate as president, Taiwan has decided to scrap the prohibition on the "three links". The parliament in Taipei voted to restore them as a gesture of goodwill towards Beijing.
The ban had been breaking down in any event on Kinmen. The mayor, Mr Chen Shui-zai, told me when I visited the tiny island, which is also known as Quemoy, that the smuggling of goods and people across the narrow waterway had increased to the point where it was now out of control.
The trade bar, imposed to stop Taiwan becoming interdependent with China, has also been undermined by Taiwan companies which have invested up to $40 billion in China through Hong Kong. The concession will not diminish Beijing's pressure on Taiwan's president-elect, Mr Chen Shui-bian, to accept one-China as a basis for any talks between the two entities, but may ease tensions in the short term.
Another olive branch proposed is the removal from the charter of Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of an incendiary clause calling for the creation of a "Republic of Taiwan".
Currently Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a wayward province, calls itself the "Republic of China". Mr Chen undertook during his election campaign not to change the name, but amending the charter of a party founded to achieve independence would be a hugely symbolic act.
A DPP member, Mr Chen Zaunan, who sponsored the move, said it was so controversial it might have to be shelved until after the inauguration of Mr Chen Shui-bian as president on May 20th, the date when half a century of Nationalist party rule on the island comes to an end. Its proposed replacement, asserting Taiwan's status as a "sovereign independent country", would also be unacceptable to Beijing but could give Mr Chen a freer hand in talks.
In Beijing yesterday, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Richard Holbrooke, met China's President Jiang Zemin for what he called "positive" talks. He delivered a private message from President Clinton, and reassured his host that the US continues to support a one-China policy. "We want to work constructively for peaceful discussions across the (Taiwan) strait", he said afterwards, and the Chinese leader had made clear he would take a "wait and see attitude" towards Mr Chen.
Mr Holbrooke said that so far people on both sides of the strait had acted "in a very cautious and responsible manner". They were entering a historically unprecedented period with the end of Nationalist rule "over some of the people of China" and "so far the signs are that all people involved in the process understand the delicacy and are being very careful".
China yesterday hailed the new face of North Korea's diplomacy, with an editorial in the People's Daily saying Pyongyang was hoping to end decades of isolation. The comment marked this week's visit to China by the North Korean Foreign Minister, Mr Paek Nam-Sun, and his talks with the Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji.