The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday dismissed speculation that Beijing is planning to drastically cut the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan by 95 percent in the run-up to the January elections.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) asked MAC Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) at a legislative meeting about reports that the Beijing government is to reduce the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan by 95 percent for a month between the middle of December and Jan. 16, when Taiwan holds its presidential and legislative elections.
She asked whether the government had come up with countermeasures to protect local tourism, especially in eastern Taiwan.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“There is no such thing,” Lin said, referring to the rumored cut.
Asked why such a rumor has been circulating, Lin said that Taiwanese elections are a politically sensitive issue in China, and Beijing has therefore cautioned Chinese “visitors and travel agencies to be careful when visiting.”
“So it is true that a small portion of people might be affected,” Lin said.
“Do you not think that [Chinese people] would rather be curious, contrary to the Chinese government’s warning, about the election in a pluralistic democratic society? After all, they do not have elections there,” Hsiao said.
“That is true, so visitors in general might want to come, but tour groups of professionals or of official exchanges might be affected,” Lin said, adding that he could not specify a number, but expects the figure to be small.
“Certainly not 95 percent,” he said.
Hsiao said the concern expressed by travel agencies is an indication of how tourism has become overly dependent on China.
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the government has always been circumspect and kept the number of Chinese tourists at a certain level.
“The proportion [of Chinese visitors] is less than 40 percent right now,” he said.
MAC Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said on Monday at a legislative committee meeting that he would inform his Chinese counterpart during a cross-strait meeting starting today that Taiwan’s elections are “normal and regular” events that should not be an excuse to bar Chinese tourists from visiting Taiwan.
Hsia added that he would ask Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) to clearly repudiate the rumor about the 95 percent reduction.
Hsia said the two sides would also exchange views on the overall development of cross-strait relations, and that the council hopes to maintain cross-strait peace and stability based on the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding reached during the cross-strait talks in 1992 that both Taiwan and China acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.
Hsia and Zhang will also exchange views on the cross-strait trade in goods agreement, setting up respective representative offices in each other’s territories, signing an environmental protection agreement, the implementation of major agreements, and both sides taking part in regional economic integration.
Additional reporting by CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS