The Executive Yuan is ready to budget NT$3.6 billion (US$115.8 million) to subsidize domestic travelers in the fall and winter in response to China’s suspension of its individual travelers program to Taiwan, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
The subsidies would apply to group travelers and individuals going on domestic tours, he said on Facebook, adding that further details would be announced soon.
“Facing suppression from China, the government will not leave tourism operators hung out to dry,” Lin said.
Politics should have no place in the tourism industry, he said, adding that any oppressive move by Beijing would only serve to unite Taiwanese.
“Apparently, China is attempting to hold the tourism industry hostage by exerting its control over individual visitors and in turn interfere in Taiwan’s elections,” Lin said.
In anticipation of the possibility that Beijing could further reduce the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan, Lin said that he has spoken with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) multiple times about potential responses, adding that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been briefed on such plans.
The government was prepared for Beijing’s threatening move and will not let China suppress Taiwan without a fight, he said.
About 6 million international tourists visited Taiwan during the first half of this year, Lin said, adding that the number of visitors from countries other than China rose from 7.17 million in 2016 to 8.37 million last year.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism yesterday announced on its Web site that “in view of the current status of cross-strait relations, the trial program allowing Chinese residents from 47 cities to travel in Taiwan individually would be temporarily suspended, starting Aug. 1.”
It is the first time that Beijing has restricted the number of individual travelers to Taiwan. It has previously only imposed similar restrictions on group travelers.
Some Chinese netizens said that the move could be related to Taiwan’s presidential election in January next year, while others said that it served as punishment for Taipei supporting protests in Hong Kong against a proposed bill to enable extraditions to China.
About 1.67 million Chinese visitors arrived in Taiwan from January to June, Tourism Bureau and National Immigration Agency statistics showed, a 30 percent increase from the same period last year.
Of those who came for tourism purposes, about 573,000 were part of a tour group and 633,000 were individuals, the data showed.
Last year, the nation welcomed about 754,000 group travelers and 1.07 million individual travelers from China, the data showed.
It was unfortunate that Beijing made such an announcement, the bureau said, adding that it would continue to welcome visits by Chinese travelers.
“We hope that China will quickly resume the program. There should be normal and positive interactions in the tourism industries across the Taiwan Strait, which should not be affected political or any specific factors,” the bureau said in a statement, adding that it would continue to monitor the number of Chinese visitors.
Local tourism operators estimated that the nation could lose 500,000 to 700,000 Chinese tourists in the next six months after China starts implementing the policy, saying that the repercussions of the policy could start to become evident in the middle of this month.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS