Chinese tourists are no longer required to join tours in order to visit, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
As of Wednesday, amendments to the Regulations Governing the People of the Mainland Area Engaging In Sightseeing Activities In Taiwan (大陸地區人民來臺從觀光活動許可辦法), a by-law of 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), took effect, stipulating that a Chinese person may travel individually, as long as he or she is able to obtain a Taiwan Area Travel Permit.
"Before the amendments, Chinese tourists had to be in a tour group made up of at least seven people in order to visit," Chen Cheng-rui (陳政叡), a bureau official, said yesterday.
Last October, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications loosened its regulations covering Chinese tourists in a bid to boost cross-strait tourism.
The Ministry of the Interior followed suit by amending its related regulations.
In order to streamline the processing of Chinese tourists' travel documents, all paperwork will be handled by the Travel Agent Association of ROC Taiwan, including the receiving and forwarding of documents, visa distribution and security deposits. Previously such documentation was processed by whichever tour agency a Chinese visitor had signed up with.
Local tour agencies wanting to arrange tours for Chinese visitors must put down a NT$1 million (US$32,000) security deposit with the association.
Chinese joining group tours must abide by strict measures aimed at stopping them from leaving their group without the government's approval.
If a Chinese citizen needs to leave his or her tour group because of an emergency or other appropriate reason -- subject to approval by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau -- he or she must inform their tour leader of the name and address of the person or entity being visited and the time the person will be rejoining the tour group. The tour leader must relay the information to the tourism bureau. Visitors who violate the rules are subject to deportation.
The amendments also call for more stringent rules on tour leaders and travel agencies providing services to Chinese tourists. For example, a tour group's landing information must be sent to the tourism bureau 39 hours prior to the group's arrival. Tour leaders are also required to report any illegal activities by tour members to the authorities immediately.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS