With Chinese tourists soon to be allowed to come to Taiwan independently, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) yesterday said the government would adopt several measures to regulate their movement, depending on the purpose and location of the visit.
“In our discussions about FITs [free independent travelers] with other government agencies, we’ve divided Chinese tourists into three categories: regular tourists, business tourists and visitors to the outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu,” Mao said.
“We need to use different means to regulate their movement,” he said. “The FIT policy can apply to tourists in any one of the three categories, depending on which one we can reach a consensus on first.”
Details of the opening, however, were still in the pipeline, the minister said, adding that the restrictions on general Chinese tourists would be the strictest, with a possible cap on the number allowed to enter Taiwan each day.
Under present regulations, Chinese tourists are only allowed to come to Taiwan as part of a group.
Mao made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, where he briefed lawmakers on the ministry’s policy objectives for the next fiscal year.
During the question-and-answer session, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠) said the government should adopt the FIT policy with tourists from Fujian Province traveling to Kinmen, Matsu or Penghu.
Furthermore, he said the government’s plan to allow Chinese visiting for business purposes to travel freely and independently is unrelated to the FIT policy, which applies only to regular tourists, and would therefore require a different set of regulations.
Meanwhile, travel agents said they welcomed the opening of the market to Chinese FITs, but added that the government should adopt a gradual approach and set very specific conditions in carrying out the policy.
Free independent Chinese travelers should not be included in the quota set for Chinese tourists, which is capped at 3,000 people per day, they said.
“The government should draft complementary measures to prevent Chinese tourists from staying in Taiwan illegally,” Travel Agent Association secretary-general Roget Hsu (許高慶) said. “They could entrust travel agents with helping filter ‘suspicious’ applicants. They could also ask travelers to pay a guarantee before they are allowed to come.”
Meanwhile, responding to a complaint by KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) regarding high ticket prices for direct flights across the Taiwan Strait compared with those of transit flights, Mao said it was wishful thinking to expect non-stop tickets to be as cheap as commuter flights and that a small fare increase was justifiable.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS