11.   Bolder Kinmen boat captains are known to sail directly into Chinese ports to buy stocks or go ashore for business and pleasure.

12.   China confirmed Thursday that a Japanese cargo vessel that went missing in September and which was thought to have been hijacked has been found in a Chinese port.

13.   Eleven Chinese sailors from the vessel that sank came up on the Russian ship and demanded it go to a Chinese port, Itar-Tass said.

14.   For E.U. shipping companies, the deal should ensure free access to cargoes and the equal treatment of vessels entering Chinese ports, she said.

15.   Fourteen people were killed when a wooden boat loaded with barrels of oil exploded in a southern Chinese port.

16.   Immigration Department spokesman Peter Watters said all three vessels had come from the southern Chinese port city of Beihai.

17.   In a recent piracy case in the South China Sea, a freighter loaded with cigarettes and destined for Vietnam turned up at a Chinese port last month.

18.   It said authorities gave them shelter, refused to arrest or prosecute them and kept ships brought to Chinese ports.

19.   It was eventually discovered in a Chinese port after pirates commandeered the ship and siphoned its cargo.

20.   Last month a delegation led by harbor masters from several major Chinese ports visited Taiwan to survey port facilities and hold unofficial talks on direct links.