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Island officials to face same rules

Elected local officials from the country’s three offshore counties will now be subject to the same regulations as their counterparts from Taiwan proper, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Sunday.

Under the new rules, all elected local officials from the counties of Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu are required to post their plans for any visits to China on a National Immigration Agency Web site prior to their departure.

Within one month of their return to Taiwan they must submit a report to the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC), as their counterparts on Taiwan proper are required to do, an MAC official said.

The RDEC will post their reports on its Web site.

“This will allow the general public to better monitor the activities of elected mayors and magistrates,” the official said.

On July 3, the Executive Yuan eased regulations on visits to China by city and county chiefs from Taiwan proper, in tandem with the launch of direct weekend charter flights between Taiwan and China.

Since July 4, a number of Taiwanese mayors and county commissioners have traveled to China at the head of delegations to promote bilateral exchanges, taking advantage of weekend charter flights.

Previously, Taiwan’s local government heads were not permitted to visit China except to take part in international events.

Last month, the MAC and the Ministry of the Interior decided that Taiwan’s mayors and county commissioners must publicize their plans to visit China.

They must also submit a report to the Executive Yuan and publicize the report on an RDEC Web site within one month of their return.

The new regulations have been made retroactive to July 3, the official said.

Lienchiang County Commissioner Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) had previously complained that the central government in Taipei imposed too many restrictions on local authorities.

He called for a retooling by the central government in this regard at a time when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is engaged in improving cross-strait ties and boosting bilateral exchanges.

A day after the MAC’s announcement of the new rules, Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) yesterday said that he would lead a 102-member group of county officials and business representatives on a tourism promotion visit to China beginning on Thursday.

The main purpose of the visit is to take part in the fourth cross-strait travel exhibition to be held in Xiamen.

The trip will also be used to host a variety of activities to promote Kinmen’s tourism in other cities in Fujian Province, including Quanzhou and Anxi, Lee said.

The Kinmen County chief said he would follow new government rules when making his China visit to allow Kinmen residents to better understand the tour.
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