Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday the government was considering allowing Chinese visitors to travel without a tour or other group in Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on a trial basis.
If the pilot trial is successful, the plan would be applied to Taiwan proper, he said.
Current cross-strait agreements require that Chinese tourists travel in a group of at least five for their entire trip.
There have been calls for the government to relax regulations on Chinese tourists as the number of arrivals has dropped to less than 1,000 people per day from a peak of more than 3,000 per day a few months ago.
“We did notice the phenomenon [falling arrivals] and we do have some ideas [on how to increase numbers], but we still need to negotiate [with the Chinese],” Liu told reporters who asked him about the issue during a tour of Matsu.
TALKS NEEDED
Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said her office will discuss the issue with China through the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association, a private group representing the tourism industry, and its Chinese counterpart.
“To relax the regulations might involve revisions of cross-strait deals [that opened Taiwan to Chinese tourists],” Lai said.
The government was also considering loosening some conditions on landing visas granted to Chinese tourists.
Starting on Sept. 30 last year, the government has issued landing visas to Chinese tourists visiting Kinmen and Matsu who do not hold positions in the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or the Chinese government.
The Executive Yuan announced last month that the landing visa service would soon be extended to Penghu, but the proposal had not been approved.
Local politicians in Matsu suggested the government loosen restrictions.
“I hope people from the [CCP], the Chinese government and its army can receive landing visas as it usually takes two weeks for them to obtain approval from the National Immigration Agency to visit Matsu,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠) said.
Lienchiang County Commissioner Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) called on Liu to allow a limited number of Chinese to travel visa-free to Matsu for a maximum of three days.
NO VISA-FREE
Liu said that Tsao’s suggestion was “worthy of discussion” and was under deliberation by the government, but he rejected the visa-free idea.
“We have never considered allowing Chinese tourists visa-free access,” Liu said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS