Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said yesterday the government would retain regulations prohibiting Chinese tourists who land in Taiwan without entry permits from entering the country, reversing recent revisions.
Liao made the remarks in response to questions about the revisions at a meeting of the Control Yuan.
Immigrant officials have come under fire after incidents that saw two groups of Chinese tourists arrive in Taiwan last Wednesday and Saturday without obtaining entry permits before boarding planes in China.
The first group of 77 Chinese visitors was eventually allowed to enter the country after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) issued entry permits while they waited at Kaohsiung Airport.
The second group of 37 visitors was denied entry and sent back to China.
In defense of the decision to issue entry permits to the first group of visitors, the NIA last Thursday cited bylaws of the Immigration Act (移民法) that were revised on March 25.
The changes exempted transport operators from Article 47 of the Immigration Act, which bans them from carrying foreign passengers without entry permits if the passengers are from countries with bilateral agreements with Taiwan. This allowed them to obtain permits within 24 hours of arrival.
NIA officials said the relaxation applied to all tourists regardless of their nationality.
Liao said he would instruct the NIA to reconsider the revision.
“Although a grace period of 24 hours [to obtain an entry permit] is international practice, we don’t think that is a good approach,” Liao said.
He said the NIA should reverse its changes to the bylaws to prevent similar situations in the future.
Airlines in violation of the regulations in the Immigration Act will be penalized with a base fee of NT$20,000, plus NT$100,000 per passenger, Liao said.
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