The number of Chinese tourist arrivals is not expected to break the 100,000 mark this year, given the relatively low figure recorded in the first 11 months of the year, immigration officials said on Sunday.
In 2006, when Chinese citizens were allowed to make sightseeing trips to Taiwan via a third place, the number of Chinese tourist arrivals set a record of more than 100,000, government statistics showed.
Following a thaw in bilateral ties after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration took over in May, the two sides signed a deal on the full opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists and on the launch of direct cross-strait charter flights to facilitate civilian exchanges.
However, the number of tourist arrivals has not shown a significant increase.
Even in October, when Chinese enjoyed a weeklong holiday, the number of Chinese visitors only totaled 11,797, far below the projected target.
Data compiled by the National Immigration Agency showed that about 68,000 Chinese visited Taiwan in the first 10 months of this year. With the daily number of Chinese tourist arrivals estimated at 400 last month, the total number for the first 11 months would be about 80,000, falling far short of the target, immigration officials said.
Amid the lingering global financial turmoil and economic recession, the officials said that the number of Chinese arrivals was not expected to increase substantially this month.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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