The Cabinet yesterday eased regulations on visits by local government chiefs to China, allowing four government heads to leave via the first direct charter flights today.
The Regulations Governing Public Servants and Special Status Personnel from the Taiwan Area Entering the Mainland Area (臺灣地區公務員及特定身分人員進入大陸地區許可辦法) previously required local government heads planning to visit China to obtain approval from the central government. The visits were also limited to attending international events organized by global organizations.
The new regulations permit local government chiefs to visit China to participate in cross-strait activities that have a bearing on local government affairs.
“There are no limitations to what constitute local government affairs. The [central] government will grant the permission to local government chiefs [to visit China] if the purpose of their trip involves local matters and not the central government,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said.
The new policy also shortens the application processing period from three weeks to one week.
Lai dismissed comments that the regulatory changes seemed to have been timed to coincide with the commencement of direct flights following severe criticism from Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who had expressed a desire to take the first direct charter flight to China.
The MAC chief, who had said on June 19 that the government would not have enough time to deal with Hu’s application to visit China this month, said yesterday that the government was able to relax the relevant regulations “in an efficient way.”
Hu, accompanied by Chinese Nationalist Party officials (KMT) — Taichung County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生), Changhua County Commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) and Nantou County Deputy Commissioner Chen Tze-ching (陳志清) — will take the flight from Chingchuankang Airport in Taichung County to Xiamen, China, in hopes of attracting more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan and more Chinese carriers to join the cross-strait weekend charter flight services.
Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) will also take the charter flight from Makung Airport in Penghu County to Xiamen to promote cross-strait religious exchanges.
Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will apply to visit Beijing and Tianjin from July 12 to July 19 to promote the county’s agricultural products.
In view of the regulatory changes, DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged all politicians planning to visit China to make details of their trips public.
“I think it is necessary,” he said. “Especially if these civil servants meet with Chinese officials and discuss things that concern the government and public affairs. I think they should be made to explain what went on upon their return.”
He said he would encourage all DPP officials to do so if they plan to visit China.
“Officials are supposed to be responsible to their supporters and keep them updated about what they are doing,” DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
Also see: Taiwan News
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