China and Taiwan are scheduled to establish tourism offices in Taipei and Beijing respectively and may allow government officials to staff the offices, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The Taiwan Strait Tourism Association will set up an office in Beijing and China’s Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association will establish an office in Taipei, a bureau official said, adding that the offices could be set up by the end of the year.
The Taiwan Strait Tourism Association is partly funded by the government and is headed by Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍). China’s association is led by the National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉).
The branch offices, once established, will be the first such cross-strait organizations established in either country.
Deputy Director-General of the Tourism Bureau David Hsieh (謝謂君) said that secretaries-general from both associations discussed the matter earlier this month.
“In that discussion, both said they intended to establish branch offices in Taipei and Beijing by the end of December,” Hsieh said.
“The offices will promote cross-strait tourism and deal with tourist disputes and accidents. The two sides may also send government officials to staff the offices,” said Hsieh, adding that the offices would only handle cross-strait tourism affairs and were not being set up for political purposes.
In related news, a survey released by the Global Views monthly showed that most Taiwanese want President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to meet his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), believing a meeting could ease cross-strait hostility.
A telephone poll of 1,005 people by the pan-blue leaning magazine showed that 58 percent of respondents said it was necessary for Ma and Hu to meet, 27 percent said it was unnecessary and 15 percent did not know or had no opinion.
“In view of China’s emergence and Taiwan’s economic woes, most Taiwanese want the government to seize every opportunity, to make as many friends as possible and to ease hostility,” said Charles Kao (高希均), co-founder of the publication. “The ruling and opposition parties have misjudged public opinion. They thought Taiwanese were conservative and afraid of being hurt in cross-strait affairs.”
Kao said that with the exception of sovereignty, which cannot be compromised, the Taiwanese government should take bolder steps in promoting trade, cultural and sports ties with China.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai