President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) plans to boost the number of Chinese tourists entering the nation from 1,000 per day to 3,000 per day at the beginning of July. Ma has called this proposal — along with cross-strait flights — a small step that will boost the economy and improve relations with China in the short term, while paving the way for bigger steps such as implementing a bilateral cross-strait common market later. But we have to ask: Are these proposals well thought out?
The most important, in terms of sovereignty, is whether or not the visas issued to incoming tourists are considered international or domestic, an issue that Ma seems reluctant to face head on. Leaving this issue unresolved — or worse, solving it by using some silly moniker like “Chinese Taipei” — may turn what is billed as a bilateral agreement between two countries into an “internal affair.”
On the economic front, because China prohibits Taiwan from becoming a member of the IMF, we lack an adequate currency exchange mechanism to deal with the yuan. Aside from the fact that this is just another example of China encroaching on Taiwan’s international space, more practically it means that China doesn’t have to follow through on currency-clearing obligations.
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) response to this conundrum is to change domestic laws and recognize the yuan as a legal foreign currency, while the NT dollar would not be viewed the same way in China, except in a few select places.
Though Ma spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said the incoming administration would deal with the issue once in office, they haven’t set a clear timetable. Wouldn’t it be prudent to have an exchange mechanism in place that is “win-win” before a larger influx of Chinese tourists starts arriving?
Meanwhile, of the four airports chosen as entry points for Chinese tourists, only Taipei’s Songshan has yet to be equipped with the necessary infrastructure to handle tourists from China. Given that Ma was mayor of Taipei for two terms (during which time he constantly discussed implementing “direct flights”), we have to ask why the country’s largest city is not prepared for this development. Were they really planning for this or was it all just talk?
Though the country’s hotels and tourist shops eagerly await waves of Chinese tourists, Taiwan’s few historic and scenic areas are notoriously overcrowded. Roads are often narrow and dangerous and transportation vehicles are poorly serviced or outdated. Together with the environmental concerns that have been voiced over the past few months — most noticeably concerning Sun Moon Lake — as well as lingering fears over an outbreak such as SARS, it seems implementing cross-strait flights and increasing the number of tourists from China are policies being pushed forward without due consideration.
Opening up tourism to China is a litmus test for how Ma’s administration might deal with bigger issues such as a cross-strait common market. The public, academics and the media need to be given ample time to reflect on the policies of the incoming administration. Otherwise, these small steps may become a big headache for both Taiwanese and those hordes of Chinese tourists.
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