App helps cross-Straits exchanges

TAIPEI - The lives of people living in either side of the Taiwan Straits has just got much easier, thanks to a mobile phone application that was formally released Wednesday.

The app, which has been in testing since May, provides information and documents on the logistics of doing business, studying, getting married and adopting children across the Straits. It was the brainchild of Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and runs on Android and iOS devices.

Tian Chunmiao, whose husband is from Taiwan, told Xinhua that when she used to call the SEF hotline it was often busy and she would just be left hanging on the telephone.

"The app makes everything much more convenient, especially with paperwork. Gone are the days when I would spend hours on the telephone to the SEF to ask about the status of our legal documents," she said.

The SEF handles cross-Straits affairs, and works closely with the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) on cross-Straits agreements.

One of the major functions of SEF is to facilitate cross-Straits exchanges, said SEF chair Lin Join-sane at the release event.

He promised that information on the app will be regularly updated and it will go through many iterations to ensure it was user friendly.