A ban on cross-strait group tourism is to be lifted on March 1 next year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday, weeks after the government put a reopening plan on hold after Beijing failed to reciprocate.
Wang was responding to a question from legislators about reports that tour operators were informed about the decision on Thursday.
The minister said that a formal announcement would be made before the Lunar New Year in February for a reopening on March 1 at the latest for Taiwanese groups traveling to China and Chinese groups traveling to Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Asked about the change in policy, given that the government had previously said it would only allow Taiwanese tour groups to travel to China if Beijing allows tours to Taiwan, Wang said that representatives of the travel industry have made it clear that not having tours to China would significantly harm their business.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told legislators that the plan was in its initial stages and would be formalized following the presidential election in January.
The Mainland Affairs Council on Aug. 24 said that it aimed to resume cross-strait tourism following a 30-day preparation period, but would cap the number of group travelers going in either direction at 2,000 per day in the initial phase.
When cross-strait tourism could resume would depend largely on China’s response to the policy, the council said at the time.
However, without a formal response from Beijing, Wang on Oct. 16 said that the plan would be suspended and revisited in the new year.
Travel Agents’ Association chairman Hsiao Po-jen (蕭博仁) yesterday said that based on his talks with a former government official, the ban might be lifted earlier depending on China’s response.
Tour operators have been informed of the timetable to make sure they are able to prepare before tours restart in March, the Tourism Administration said.
Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社) welcomed the decision, saying it would work with the government to prepare.
Phoenix Tours (鳳凰旅遊) general manager Benjamin Pien (卞傑民) said that returning Chinese tourists could provide revenue equivalent to the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic by the third quarter of next year.
Separately yesterday, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said that Taiwan is expected to welcome its 6 millionth visitor by the middle of next month, meeting its goal for the year.
Tourism plays a key role in Taipei’s plans to stimulate the economy and revitalize the service industry, with cultural diversity and regional character being the focus of tourism policy, Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-yu and CNA
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS