In the face of the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Mainland Affairs Council can only attempt to decrease cross-strait traffic, since it is impossible to completely bar all travelers from China, the council's chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remark in a bid to deny media reports that she had proposed an overall ban on travelers from China in yesterday morning's weekly Cabinet meeting.
"It is impossible to completely bar all visitors from China. We cannot keep them from visiting family, coming here to attend funerals or for necessary professional exchanges. What the MAC can do is to suggest [to the related parties] that these exchanges be postponed," Tsai said.
She told the Cabinet meeting that the MAC will finalize its conclusion soon over whether to impose stricter regulations or measures for cross-strait exchanges or to curb the exchanges step-by-step, according to a statement released by the council.
"The council is closely monitoring the worsening development of SARS in China and Hong Kong," said Chen Chan-hung (
"A final decision on necessary measures will be made when the council considers that the situation has deteriorated too far, and we will consult the immigration authorities to implement them," Chen said.
"The council will consider implementing the necessary measures bearing in mind humane concerns regarding ordinary visits to relatives, while we already recommend that cross-strait professional visits be postponed or canceled because of the SARS outbreak," he said.
Earlier yesterday, the council issued a report showing that the number cross-strait professional visits had fallen since the outbreak began.
The council also noted that the latest survey by the World Health Organization shows China as the country most seriously affected by the disease.
The report showed that 880 Chinese in cultural, educational and other professional fields had either canceled or postponed their visits to Taiwan.
Eighty Chinese in five other travel groups, however, are still scheduled to visit the country, the report said.
The report also said that 41 members of the nine Chinese groups who are already in Taiwan were all healthy.
The council has persuaded a group of 441 Taiwanese to cancel their religious trip to China, Chao Chieh-fu (
Another six groups, comprising 839 people, who were planning to visit China via chartered planes for similar exchanges, had been advised by the council to carefully consider the risks of such travel before submitting their application, Chao said.
The council has also authorized an extension to the residency permits of Chinese spouses in Taiwan until the end of May.
In order to contain the disease, the council announced the suspension of the transport links between Matsu and China from April 1.
Ferries continue to operate between Kinmen and China and there were no plans to suspend the services, the council said.
In related news, two DPP lawmakers yesterday urged the government to track illegal Chinese workers amid the outbreak of SARS.
Legislators Trong Chai (蔡同榮) and Lin Chin-hsing (林進興) said in a joint statement that the woman who was suspected to be the source of possible mass transmission of SARS at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital apparently had come into contact with an illegal Chinese housemaid.
Should that be the case, the lawmakers said, the government should track the Chinese housemaid who reportedly had entered Taiwan illegally.
The lawmakers claimed in the news statement that some 3,000 to 5,000 illegal Chinese immigrants are believed to be living in Taiwan. "While some of them work in the sex industry, others may work for local families. If these illegal workers become ill, they mostly dare not go to see doctors. The risks are high of infecting others if they are infected with the SARS virus, " the statement said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS