On May 20 last year the first anniversary of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The new initiative means Chinese travelers will hereafter be divided into four major groups, depending on their destination. First, those going to "other" countries, who are covered by the 2002 "Measures for the Administration of the Overseas Tours of Chinese Citizens" (
The second group, covered by the "Notice of the State Administration of Tourism on the Relevant Issues concerning the Travel Agencies' Organizing Inland Residents to Travel to Hong Kong and Macao" (
Thirdly, there are those travelers going to neighboring countries, covered by the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Tours of Neighboring Countries" (
And the fourth and final group, most recently mandated, is Chinese travelers going to Taiwan.
Taiwan has already become a destination among Chinese tourists. The Taiwanese government claims that China has to first include Taiwan in its list of travel destinations before both sides of the Taiwan strait can conduct further negotiations. However, Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan in this regard.
This raises problems as, on the one hand, a destination isn't generally included on the list before negotiations are completed, and on the other, according to the "Measures for the Administration of the Overseas Tours of Chinese Citizens," taking a trip to Taiwan is not actually considered an overseas tour.
Article 17 of "Measures for the Control of Chinese Citizens Traveling to or from the Region of Taiwan," which deals with how organized tour groups operate, such as the appropriate way to deal with illegal stays by Chinese tourists, is very similar to the contents of the "Measures for the Administration of the Overseas Tours of Chinese Citizens."
What makes the "Measures for the Control of Chinese Citizens Traveling to or from the Region of Taiwan" different is Article 4, which stipulates that Taiwanese travel agencies receiving Chinese tourists must be approved by China's NTA -- this approval is subsequently announced by the Cross-Strait Tourism Association (
Article 4 has two implications. First, China does not actively direct overseas travel agencies that receive Chinese tourists but will have tight control of Taiwanese travel agencies doing so. Second, the Cross-Strait Tourism Association, which China's National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei (
As Shao first said, this organization will in future play a significant role in cross-strait negotiations. Taiwan's government will probably also have to establish a new government agency to act as a counterpart of this association instead of the "Travel Agent Association" (全聯會) it had originally appointed.
However, I have my doubts as to whether or not this means that Chinese tourists will be able to travel to Taiwan immediately.
First, it remains to be seen if cross-strait tourism negotiations will be based on the so-called "1992 consensus." Will Beijing find it acceptable if Taipei continues to deny the existence of this consensus?
Second, will China be willing to see Chen Shui-bian's government make a comeback on the economic front during the final two years of his presidency, or will they mix talks and procrastination to let the pan-blue camp reap the benefits? After all, it took three years for Beijing and Tokyo to ink a deal on tourism-related issues.
Third, it remains to be seen whether or not China will allow Taiwan to set up an "overseas agency" issuing visas in China. This involves the sovereignty issue, and it is not very efficient to have applications reviewed in Hong Kong or Macau. It would also be difficult to verify credentials and qualifications -- both the EU and Japan now interview applicants before issuing a visa to prevent illegal stays.
Fourth, if cross-strait direct flights are not established forcing visitors to travel via Hong Kong or Macao, the price of traveling to Taiwan is not going to be competitive, which would mitigate the effects of deregulation.
Kinmen can be included as an entry and exit point. It could serve as a buffer, and such an arrangement could offer a boost to tourism in Kinmen while also reducing the negative impact of the high speed rail on domestic civil aviation once it starts its services.
Judging from the opening of the three small direct links in 2000 and the opening up of category 2 and category 3 Chinese tourism in 2002, the impact of a unilateral opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourism without any prior negotiations would probably be quite insignificant.
Fan Shih-ping is an assistant professor in the Department of International Affairs at National Kinmen Institute of Technology.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
In the 2022 book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, academics Hal Brands and Michael Beckley warned, against conventional wisdom, that it was not a rising China that the US and its allies had to fear, but a declining China. This is because “peaking powers” — nations at the peak of their relative power and staring over the precipice of decline — are particularly dangerous, as they might believe they only have a narrow window of opportunity to grab what they can before decline sets in, they said. The tailwinds that propelled China’s spectacular economic rise over the past