The government’s goal of attracting 10 million international travelers to Taiwan this year remains unchanged, new Minister of Transportation and Communications Lee Men-yen (李孟諺) said yesterday.
Lee, who served as the Executive Yuan secretary-general under former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, had his first meeting with reporters after being sworn in on Monday.
He was asked what the ministry would do after a group tour ban for Taiwanese going to China is to be reintroduced on Saturday next week, and whether it would readjust the goal it set for international visitors if cross-strait relations do not improve.
Photo: CNA
“We are not planning to revise the goal,” Lee said. “About 2 million international visitors arrived during the first quarter this year. Judging from this rate of growth, there might still be some ways to go before we reach the goal.”
“However, the Tourism Administration is working hard and has proposed strategies, so we will maintain this goal,” Lee said.
The Tourism Administration previously aimed to attract 12 million international visitors this year, including 2 million Chinese tourists.
In November last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications unilaterally announced that the ban on group tours to China would be lifted on March 1, adding that China should reciprocate by allowing Chinese tour groups to visit Taiwan.
However, after President William Lai (賴清德) was elected in January, Nauru severed ties with Taipei and established diplomatic relations with China. In February, China unilaterally activated the use of its self-designated M503, W122 and W123 flight routes.
Taipei announced that the group tour ban would be implemented again next month after it did not receive a response from China.
Last month, Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry services between Fujian’s Pingtan County and Taiwan proper resume.
Taiwan allows independent travelers to visit China, while China bans independent travelers and group tours from going to Taiwan, Lee said.
A monthly average of 180,000 to 200,000 Taiwanese traveled to China in January and February, while an average of 210,000 to 230,000 Taiwanese have headed to China since March, he said, citing immigration data.
“We will soon have a cross-departmental meeting on cross-strait tours, during which officials could discuss whether the group tour ban should be fully or partially lifted,” he said. “While we hope that travel agencies could profit more from an increase in travel business, we also have to ensure that cross-strait relations are equal and balanced.”
China appeared to have misinterpreted the meaning of “equality of cross-strait tourism,” Lee said.
“If we allow individuals and group travelers to visit China, then Beijing should do the same. That is what we meant by being equal. They politicized this by saying that we are advocating a two-state theory,” he said.
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