From August next year, the annual review of the visa-free program for tourists from Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Russia is to be extended to once every three years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
“The visa-free treatment granted to the four countries is to expire on July 31, 2020. By that time, the evaluation on whether to extend that privilege will be conducted every three years,” MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
In August 2016, Taiwan began allowing citizens from Thailand and Brunei 14-day visa-free entry into the country as part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) New Southbound Policy.
The program was expanded to the Philippines in November 2017 and Russia in September last year.
In past reviews, the four countries had their visa-free privileges extended due to their citizens’ low involvement in illegal activities while in Taiwan. The maximum number of days Russians are allowed to stay in Taiwan was extended from 14 to 21 in July.
The government decided not to include Indonesia and Vietnam in its visa-free program “due to border management and national security considerations,” the ministry said.
However, the approval procedures for visa applications from citizens of the two countries would be simplified.
“Visa applications by citizens of Indonesia and Vietnam are to be reviewed by Taiwanese tourism officials based in those countries instead of the applications being sent to Taiwan, and visas are to be issued by local Taiwan representative offices to shorten the processing time,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that agencies are discussing ways to attract more tourists from six countries in the Middle East that are covered in Taiwan’s electronic visa program — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Taiwan is eager to develop tourism markets in the Gulf states, as tourists from there have high spending power, it said, adding it is confident of achieving this goal, because Taiwan was ranked third on this year’s Global Muslim Travel Index, which lists the most Islamic-friendly destinations.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
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