A senior Chinese tourism official arrived in Taipei yesterday, kicking off a 10-day tour that could go a long way toward reviving the nation's beleaguered tourism sector and easing cross-strait tensions.
Shao Qiwei (
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (
Speaking at a weekly news briefing, Liu explained that the purpose of Shao's visit was purely to gain an understanding of Taiwan's tourist spots and relevant facilities, and he urged everyone to respect the purpose of his visit and not to interfere.
While in Taiwan, Shao will only meet representatives from the tourism industry and will not touch on issues related to cross-strait negotiations, Liu said, noting that the Chinese tourism official's visit is a requirement of the Chinese government before it decides to allow its people to sightsee in Taiwan.
He also urged Beijing to speed up its pace in related preparations and pointed out that China is yet to add Taiwan to its overseas tourist destination list.
Taiwan is poised to open up further to tourists from China after beginning to do so on a trial basis in 2002, he said.
Taiwan Visitors' Association president S.L. Chang (
Tourism Bureau Director-General Hsu Wen-sheng (
Shao said he hoped to personally feel and experience the atmosphere and attractions of Taiwan, such as its historic and cultural relics and religious activities, during his visit.
Shao's 66-member delegation is composed of provincial tourism officials, reporters and industry executives.
Shao was invited by Chang to visit Taiwan in his capacity as Chinese National Travel Association president in a bid to make the visit "private" in nature.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Lin Ling-san (
Lin welcomed Shao's visit and expressed the hope that he will be able to gain a detailed understanding of present-day Taiwan.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS