Taiwan has given the green signal for building a bridge between two small islands that it controls off China. A bridge linking the Taiwan-held Kinmen group of islands with China would be a powerful symbol of improved ties between Taipei and Beijing, as the area is so far best known as the scene of their bloodiest battle in the past 60 years. That prospect has now moved closer with the decision by Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development to approve the 5.3-kilometre bridge from Kinmen proper to neighbouring Little Kinmen. The bridge will cost 178 million dollars and is expected to be completed by 2016. It will make a much-discussed bridge to China more feasible, as Little Kinmen is about five kilometres from the mainland, while a bridge from Kinmen proper would have to be almost nine kilometres long.