Cross-strait tourism exchanges are a "nation to nation" matter, and Chinese tourists should present their People's Republic of China (PRC) passports for Republic of China (ROC) visa stamps upon entering Taiwan, a group of civic organizations said yesterday.
The seven pro-independence groups, including the Taiwan Southern Society, issued a joint statement urging the government to be on the watch for an expected flood of Chinese tourists into Taiwan after Beijing announced a set of rules last week in preparation for its citizens to make sightseeing trips to Taiwan.
Chinese travelers should present their passports, rather than simply travel documents, when entering Taiwan, so immigration authorities can stamp them with official ROC visas, the statement said.
The statement said that special groups of Chinese citizens -- including Chinese officials visiting Taiwan via third countries, Chinese citizens studying abroad and those who have obtained permanent resident status overseas -- have been allowed to visit Taiwan as tourists, but all have used travel documents issued by Taiwan and haven't received ROC stamps on their documents upon entrance.
It said that illegal Chinese immigrants -- many of whom absconded while traveling in tour groups -- have been a headache internationally, adding that Taiwan's situation would only be worse.
Since Chinese spies, or "fifth column" members, could sneak into the nation under the guise of tourists, all Chinese should be required to have their fingerprints taken upon entering the country to safeguard national security.
The statement called for tighter policies on Chinese tourists, saying that Taiwan could not be too careful, particularly with the bird flu threat in China.
Beijing issued "15 incentives" to Taiwan at the conclusion of an economic forum between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last Friday and Saturday. One of the "incentives" was a promise to allow Chinese citizens to make sightseeing trips to Taiwan.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods