The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that it had denied the Taipei City Government’s request to allow a delegation of officials from Shanghai to visit Taiwan for the Taipei Lantern Festival.
The application was rejected, because the group’s itinerary involved tourism-related activities and the festival is considered a cultural exchange, the MAC said.
“Part of the trip involves tourism-related activities, and such matters should first be coordinated through the two cross-strait tourism associations before an application is made [to the MAC] to enter Taiwan,” it said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits handle cross-strait tourism.
The city government submitted a special request on Jan. 20 for a delegation from the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism to visit Taiwan from Tuesday next week to Friday next week, to attend the Taipei Lantern Festival and other tourism events, the MAC said in a statement.
Following a comprehensive evaluation, the application was rejected, it said.
That is the second rejection since the Lunar New Year holiday for Chinese officials who want to visit Taiwan during the festival, which runs from Monday to Feb. 16.
MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) on Monday said that a 13-member delegation of Shanghai Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) members, including its director Jin Mei (金梅), was denied entry to Taiwan, because their application to the MAC was “submitted a bit late” and could not be processed in time.
It is unclear whether that delegation’s itinerary included additional tourism activities.
However, Chiu said that the application was mainly rejected, because he believed the Shanghai TAO had deliberately prevented Taiwanese business owners in Shanghai from visiting Taiwan for Lunar New Year holiday activities.
Many people traditionally return to Taiwan for such events, but numbers in recent years had dwindled, he added.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday expressed regret over the MAC’s decision, saying it broke the long-standing tradition of a delegation from Shanghai participating in the Taipei Lantern Festival.
Communication and exchanges are more crucial as cross-strait relations become increasingly tense, he said.
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