China will send a 36-member delegation to Taiwan next month to prepare for tour groups to visit the island beginning in July, a local newspaper said yesterday.
The travel representatives from China will arrive April 29 in Taipei for a two-week visit, the paper said.
They will attend three seminars with their Taiwan counterparts and visit tourists resorts and facilities on the island.
Taiwan plans to lift its five-decade ban on tourists from China visiting Taiwan on July 1. In the initial stage, Taipei will only accept Chinese tour groups and will set a quota of 1,000 tourists per day.
The restriction is to avoid an influx of too many tourists and to prevent Chinese from staying behind to work illegally.
According to the report, China has authorized the Hai Xia Cross Strait Travel Agency, an affiliate of the Chinese State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, to handle tours to Taiwan.
For security reasons, Taiwan has banned direct sea, air and postal links with China but has allowed Taiwan residents to visit China since 1987.
Three million people from Taiwan visited China last year for sightseeing, family reunions and business.
According to the report, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council will establish some regulations on Chinese tour groups while visiting Taiwan.
It said the council will in the initial stage only allow Chinese people over the age of 30 to visit Taiwan. Additionally, tourists from China will only be allowed to enter Taiwan through CKS International Airport and will have to exit from Kaohsiung Hsiaokang International Airport.
The paper quoted DPP legislator Chang Ching-fang (
The itinerary is currently waiting for approval from the Mainland Affairs Council.
According to Chang, the government will allow Chinese tourists to set foot on the island based on a policy of "groups in, groups out" (
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
RSS