The effort to open Taiwan to Chinese tourists lurched forward yesterday, as the government announced it was establishing an association to negotiate with China on the issue.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced that it will establish the "Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association" on Sunday to negotiate with China over cross-strait tourism issues.
MAC Chairman Joseph Wu (
job done
Wu said that on July 28 last year, the government had designated Taiwan's Travel Agent Association (全聯會) to serve as the liaison with China's Cross-Strait Tourism Association, but now that the Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association was being established, the Travel Agent Association had completed its task.
Wu said that China's Cross-Strait Tourism Association, which is chaired by China's National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉), already held a board meeting on Aug. 17. Taiwan therefore needed to quickly establish a counterpart to deal with China.
"Based on the fact that China has made substantial progress on the tourism issue, the establishment of this new association is a functional arrangement, as we think the timing is right," Wu said.
"But the association is not meant to replace the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF)," he said.
no opening date
Hsu, who will be the president of the Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association, said that a trustee meeting will be held on Sunday afternoon and the association will set up its rules.
Hsu said that the association will have nine to 11 trustees, who will be tourism professionals selected from the public and private sectors.
"None of the MAC or SEF members will be trustees," Hsu said.
When asked about a definite date for opening up Taiwan to Chinese tourists, Wu said that he could not give one, saying the government had no preset stance on the issue.
"When we reach a consensus through negotiation is when we open up [to the tourists]," Wu said.
Meanwhile, Wu also said that the Central Bank of China is now evaluating the possibility of Chinese tourists being allowed to exchange yuan in the country when Chinese tourists are permitted to visit the country.
"Taiwan is working on how to communicate with Chinese banks on the issue, and we will work out a complete set of security details for currency exchanges that are in concert with the acceptance of Chinese tourists," Wu said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing