The suspension of all outbound and inbound tours for Taiwanese travel agencies is to be extended until the end of next month, as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The ban, which began on March 19, was originally scheduled to last until the end of this month.
Although Taiwan has reached 101 days with no new domestic cases of COVID-19 and over the past few weeks has had only a handful of new imported cases, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has passed 15 million, with more than 610,000 deaths, according to WHO data.
In accordance with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) disease prevention measures, the bureau said that it has extended the ban until Aug. 31.
Taiwan bans the entry of foreign nationals with few exceptions, and overseas arrivals, including Taiwanese nationals, are subject to a 14-day quarantine upon entry.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said that the visa-free privilege extended to tourists from Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Russia would be extended for one year, effective from Saturday next week to July 31 next year.
The ministry said that the policy is not a relaxation of Taiwan’s ban on the entry of foreign tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whether restrictions on foreign nationals coming to Taiwan for tourism purposes will be relaxed depends on the CECC’s assessment of the global pandemic situation,” the ministry said in a statement.
The decision to extend the visa-free treatment for the countries was reached following assessments in an inter-agency meeting on May 29, it said.
“The number of tourists last year from Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Russia rose 34.49 percent, 41.32 percent, 100.37 percent and 407.55 percent respectively year-on-year, indicating that the visa-free measures are attracting foreign travelers,” it said.
The Taiwanese government gave visa-free treatment to select countries beginning in 2016 under its New Southbound Policy, which seeks closer exchanges with countries in the region, especially those in Southeast Asia.
The inter-agency meeting also extended a project for simplifying visa regulations for high-end group tourists from Southeast Asian countries until Dec. 31 next year, the ministry said.
The project, aimed at making it easier for high-end tourists from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to visit Taiwan, was first implemented on Nov. 1, 2015, and is to expire at the end of this year.
The ministry also announced that starting on Saturday next week, holders of Japanese or South Korean visas who wish to apply for conditional visa-free entry must present proof of entry in at least one of the two countries.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to