The government has relaxed travel restrictions to make it easier for Chinese nationals living in Hong Kong, Macau or a foreign country to visit Taiwan, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday.
Starting yesterday, Chinese nationals can come to Taiwan for sightseeing as long as they have lived in a foreign country or in Hong Kong and Macau for at least one year, the officials said.
Previous regulations required them to have lived overseas for at least four years.
Applicants must also have a job in the countries or areas where they reside, or be the spouse or lineal relative of a Chinese expatriate to qualify for a tourist permit to visit Taiwan.
Taiwan only began opening its door for tourist visits by Chinese expatriates or those living in Hong Kong or Macau in 2002. Individuals who meet the requirements can apply to visit Taiwan by providing employment certificates, proof of family relationship, identification cards, as well as travel plans and an itinerary.
The applications can be filed with Taiwan’s representative offices either by travel agents or the applicants themselves, an official said.
An increasing number of Chinese tourists have visited Taiwan since direct flights were launched last year.
Given the rising demand for urgent entry permits by Chinese nationals wishing to visit Taiwan, the NIA has set up a mechanism to streamline the processing of travel documents of Chinese tourists on a case-by-case basis to enhance efficiency, the official said.
For instance, travel agencies that provide a security deposit of NT$1 million (US$31,000) with the Travel Agent Association of the Republic of China Taiwan to arrange tours for Chinese expatriates will not be charged NT$100,000 in case a tour member goes missing. The official said there had been no reported case of Chinese expatriates overstaying or absconding since Taiwan allowed their visits in 2002.
However, a fine will still be imposed for every Chinese tourist from Hong Kong, Macau, or China who overstay their visa or go missing, the official said.
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