Taipei, June 18 (CNA) Vice President Annette Lu toured Penghu to inspect construction work on Taiwan's outlying island and to promote tourism Tuesday.
Lu listened to a briefing by Cheng Wen-lon, director-general of the Taiwan Area National expressway Engineering Bureau, about the expansion work of the Makung Airport terminal. She later inspected the airport area.
Lu also encouraged the public to come to Penghu and tour the scenic island. Tourism to Penghu has been adversely affected by the crash of a China Airlines plane recently.
Reports said that fewer tourists have come to Penghu since the Hong Kong-bound plane crashed off Makung, Penghu, May 25, killing all 206 passengers and 19 crew aboard. Tourists are reportedly even afraid to eat seafood from the area in the belief that the local delicacies may have been caught in waters where bodies from the crash have been recovered.
Lu thanked local residents for their assistance in the recovery operations after the plane crash. She also lamented that tourism on the island--the main source of income for many--had been so seriously affected by the air disaster.
She said that Penghu has many tourism resources and distinctive and attractive landscape. Lu added that famous tourist destinations in Penghu were not affected by falling debris from the plane that broke apart at high altitude over the Taiwan Strait.
Lu also inspected the customs and quarantine facilities in the Makung Harbor Building and met with tourist agents and wind-surfing enthusiasts in the afternoon.
Penghu, consists of 64 islets situated in the Taiwan Strait, lies midway between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Only 20 of the islands of Penghu are inhabited. Penghu proper, the largest island of the archipelago, accounts for half of the total area of 126.86 sq. km. and is home to 70 percent of the population.