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.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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