The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday urged people to carefully assess the risks before heading to China and to stay alert while visiting there to reduce the risks to their personal safety.
The plea from council Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san (
More Taiwanese are expected to head to China during this upcoming holiday than in previous years following the devastation to the tourism industry in South Asia and Southeast Asia caused by the Dec. 26 tsunami tragedy.
According to Chiu, Taiwanese make about 3 million trips to China each year for tourism or for business activities, making China one of the top destinations for Taiwanese people traveling abroad. Despite this, Taiwanese visitors have not been afforded due protection in China, Chiu claimed.
He quoted a study conducted recently by an academic group as indicating that Taiwanese tourists face 10 major problems in visiting China, including the lack of a tourism safety and security protection mechanism; overbooking of transport tickets; rampant circulation of counterfeit goods; widespread epidemic diseases; unauthorized changing of itineraries; forced visits to shops; unregulated tipping systems; and reneging on accommodation contracts.
Chiu added that any Taiwanese residents who need assistance while traveling in China can call the Straits Exchange Foundation at 8862-27129292, Chung Hwa Travel Service at 852-25258642, or the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Macau at 853-306282.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition