The cap on the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan via the Free Independent Travel program is to be raised from 4,000 to 5,000 per day from today.
The revised cap is part of measures to boost the economy that the National Development Council announced last month, which also include an increase from Sept. 10 in the quota of visitors via the “small three links” through Kinmen and Matsu from 500 to 1,000 per day.
No change is planned to the daily number of Chinese allowed into the nation on group tours.
Civic groups yesterday criticized the Executive Yuan’s plan to allow more Chinese in on tourist visas and lax financial regulations concerning Chinese tourists’ eligibility to buy stocks on Taiwanese markets.
Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said the council’s measures opened the way for 11,000 additional Chinese tourists per day, constituting an increase of 1,500 people daily, adding that the number does not include Chinese who sign up for lavish tours or are part of company-sponsored trips.
Since 2008, when Chinese tourists were first allowed to visit, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has constantly raised the cap and has never made a formal assessment of the volume of tourists that popular tourist sites could accommodate, Lai said.
The government must establish firm laws in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法), Lai said, adding that despite Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promising to enact such regulations if she is elected next year, she should also consider taking back her pledge of “no scaling down the total number of Chinese tourists.”
“If volumes can be shown to exceed the maximum amount destinations can accommodate, the government should consider decreasing the number of visitors allowed into the nation,” Lai said.
Lai said that the Financial Supervisory Commission has over the past year announced multiple policies relaxing restrictions on Chinese setting up accounts in Taiwan to buy Taiwanese stocks.
Lai accused the government of trying to turn Chinese tourists into economic investors by allowing banks to establish branches in airports and harbors, and allowing Chinese visitors to set up accounts with only an entry permit.
Taiwanese setting up accounts with banks are required to show two separate forms of identification, Lai said.
If only 10 percent of Chinese visitors to Taiwan last year — or 4 million — opened Taiwanese bank accounts at airports, it would have generated 1 billion yuan (US$157 million), exceeding the ceiling allowed for a Chinese qualified domestic institutional investor to invest in the nation according to Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement regulations, Lai said.
The measure is a bad way to try to boost the economy, he added.
Commission Chairman Wu Yu-chun (吳裕群) said the policy is still under debate and would not go into implementation until it was brought up in discussion with other government units.
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
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