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Police launch hunt for missing Chinese female tour leader

Police are looking for a Chinese tour group leader who was reported missing shortly after arriving in Taipei on Tuesday.

The National Security Bureau has been notified, and local law enforcement officials are searching for Chen Li (陳麗), 27, from China's Guangxi Province, reports said.

Chen's disappearance has fueled speculation she had run away.

The incident could have negative repercussions for Chinese tour guides, said Kao Ching-yun (高慶雲), president of the Taipei Association of Travel Agents.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) used to ban female tour leaders under 30 years of age from leading groups to Taiwan amid concerns they might use this as a pretext to enter Taiwan, but the policy was recently relaxed, Kao said.

"In the near future, it will again become very difficult for young female tour guides or leaders under the age of 30 to come to Taiwan. The government will impose a stricter screening process for tour leaders from China," he said.

Kao said the association had questioned Chen's purpose in coming to Taiwan prior to the group's departure, saying it was not normal for a tour leader from Guangxi to lead a group from Beijing.

He also said it was very strange that Chen declined to keep the group members' passports, as safeguarding travel documents was part of the tour leader's job. That enhanced suspicions Chen had been planning to run away upon arrival in Taiwan.

Hotel surveillance cameras showed Chen sitting alone in the lobby with her luggage on Tuesday night when the group arrived, police said.

The footage also showed her receiving several calls on her Chinese cellphone. When hotel workers inquired why she was waiting in the lobby, she reportedly said she needed to give something to tour members staying on the sixth floor of the hotel.

The police suspect Chen fled at around 10pm the same night. Her passport was nowhere to be found.

The police are keeping close tabs on Wu Zheng-chun (吳政春), a tour member whom they suspect is Chen's boyfriend. Wu, who hails from the same town in Guangxi as Chen, changed his story a couple of times during police questioning, saying he hardly knew Chen.

The Tourism Bureau said this was the first time that a Chinese tour leader had abandoned a group since Taiwan partially eased regulations on allowing tourists from China seven years ago.

A total of 138 Chinese tourists have fled since the relaxation on visits from China, with 28 of them still missing.

Shi Tong Travel Agency, the local firm which coordinated the tour, faces a fine of NT$200,000 (US$6,100) if Chen fails to show up within 10 days.

The seven-day, six-night tour will continue as scheduled, the bureau said.

The MAC recently agreed to allow Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan by sea on condition that they arrive via a third country. About 800 Chinese tourists are expected to visit during the Lunar New Year holiday, generating NT$16 million (US$490,000) in revenues.
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