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DPP blasts Tourism Bureau for undermining Taiwan

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) blasted the Tourism Bureau yesterday for downgrading Taiwan on its Web site.

“On the bureau’s simplified Chinese Web site, Taipei City has been changed from the ‘capital’ to ‘the major city,’” Wong said, adding that the national flag, the country’s name and the president had all “disappeared.”

“This is all so disappointing,” Wong told a press conference at the DPP caucus’ office.

DPP caucus deputy whip Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said that the party was worried the government would commence weekend direct charter flights even though officials have yet to come up with necessary mechanisms to safeguard the country.

“We do not have any plan to prevent the potential spread of diseases from China. We do not have any plan to prevent potential breaches of national security, either,” Pan said.

Pan said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was eager to carry out its policies, even though they could end in disaster.

“To screen for diseases, Department of Health officials have apparently asked cabin crews to ‘pay attention to Chinese visitors who show signs of illness during the trip. What kind of screening mechanism is that?” Pan said.

He also mentioned the difficulties that some countries, including Germany, France, Italy, the US, Japan and Korea, have with overstaying or illegal Chinese immigrants.

“The Chinese government sometimes refuses to repatriate its own illegal immigrants from foreign countries. What will we do if that happens?” Pan said.

“Are we really ready for this?” Pan asked.

The first weekend direct charter flight is scheduled to take off from Shanghai at 8:50am next Friday and land at Taipei’s Songshan Airport at 11:50am.

The Tourism Bureau was unavailable for comments at press time.



Also see: EDITORIAL: The Taiwan experience: near yet far
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