Officials from the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) yesterday confirmed that individual Chinese tourists would be allowed to visit Taiwan by the end of this month — although they did not give an exact timetable or any other details.
The two sides also said they would increase the number of cross-strait flights from the current 370 per week to 550 or more in view of a larger number of Chinese tourists heading toward Taiwan.
Greater Tainan and Yencheng City in Jiangsu Province will be added to the list of stops in cross-strait flights, they said.
The announcement came after a four-hour meeting at Taipei’s Grand Hotel to review the implementation of cross-strait agreements.
ARATS Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) told a press conference after the meeting that the two sides would work on the details and paperwork before formally announcing the individual tourist format.
SEF Deputy Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) refused to confirm whether individual Chinese tourists would be allowed to visit starting on June 25.
The Mainland Affairs Council has previously said a maximum of 500 Chinese residents of Shanghai, Beijing and Xiamen per day will be eligible to visit Taiwan as independent tourists. Residents from Fujian Province will be able to travel as individuals to Kinmen and Matsu.
Applicants for individual visits must either be students older than 18 or non-students who are at least 20 years old. A visit will be limited to a maximum of 15 days, and those who fail to follow regulations will be barred from the country for three years.
Travel agencies that handle individual Chinese tourist visits will also be held responsible for any violations of the regulations.
Kao said the foundation and ARATS also agreed to work together to get more landing slots, reduce airfares and enforce the safety of cross-strait travel, among other measures to promote tourism.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS