National security will not be compromised if Chinese are granted landing visas when visiting Kinmen and Matsu, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Deputy Chairman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳) said that a preliminary review of the proposed measure was “OK” and that related government agencies would map out details regarding how to implement the measure.
Liu made the remarks in response to inquiries from the Taipei Times about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) announcement that Chinese tourists visiting Kinmen or Matsu could be given landing visas or multiple entry visas.
Ma, who made the announcement in Kinmen on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment, said that the proposal was aimed at boosting the economic development of the military outpost and making travel to Kinmen and Matsu more convenient for Chinese tourists.
Liu said that as 11 Chinese cities allow Taiwanese tourists entry on landing visas, it would make sense to allow Chinese visitors to enjoy the same privilege.
MINI LINKS
Chinese visitors from Fujian Province can visit Penghu, Kinmen or Matsu via the “three mini links.” They cannot, however, visit Taiwan proper via the same route.
As the application for regular visas takes about three days, Liu said landing visas would cut down the time significantly.
However, he emphasized the importance of the screening system, saying that the administration would do its best to shorten the processing time for visas to Taiwan proper if applicants were not Chinese Communist Party or government officials. They would also make sure national security would be safeguarded.
While some blame the long visa processing period for low numbers of Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan, Liu said many factors were involved and that the issue would be on the agenda of the next round of cross-strait negotiations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on Sunday lambasted Ma’s plan, saying it was a threat to national security.
But Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator (KMT) Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠), from Matsu, lauded the president’s proposal, downplaying DPP concerns that the measure might lead to more Chinese working illegally in Kinmen and Matsu.
“It is unlikely that [Chinese tourists to Kinmen and Matsu] could escape because Kinmen and Matsu ... are small islands,” he said. “Besides, I believe the government would be able to effectively control [the visitors] on the islands.”
THREAT
Tsao also shrugged off media speculation that the president’s proposal might pose a threat to national security, adding that everyone, even Taiwanese, are barred from entering important military facilities on the islands.
Meanwhile, the council announced yesterday that there would be more relaxations on financial regulations for immigrant spouses seeking residency or naturalization.
If approved by the Executive Yuan, immigrant spouses no longer need to provide proof that they possess NT$420,000. The main reason was to prevent marriage brokers from profiting by lending high interest loans to their clients, Liu said.
The administration would also lower the minimum monthly income requirement for Chinese spouses seeking long-term stay or permanent residence status from NT$34,560 to NT$19,008, Liu said.
The estimated value of liquid assets would also be lowered from NT$420,000 to NT$120,000, but spouses must demonstrate an estimated value of unmovable assets worth NT$800,000, he said.
Those who cannot provide such proof could seek a warrant from authorized non-government organizations to prove that they can support themselves, Liu said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data