Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) yesterday said the government would consider raising the quota for Chinese tourists from 3,000 to 4,000 per day, adding that Taipei and Beijing could review the possibility before the end of the year.
Mao made the statement a day after Taiwan and China announced a plan to increase the number of Chinese free independent travelers (FIT) visiting Taiwan.
At present, only residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen are allowed to visit Taiwan as FITs. Those from other cities in China must visit with tour groups formed by Chinese travel agencies.
The new plan would expand the number of Chinese cities qualified for the FIT program to include 10 other cities: Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jinan, Xian, Fuzhou and Shenzhen.
The cap for Chinese FITs was recently raised from 500 to 1,000 visitors a day.
However, the total number of Chinese tourists is still capped at 3,000 per day.
“Let’s see if we can look at it [the plan to raise the cap for Chinese tour group visitors] in the second half of this year,” Mao said when asked if both sides could review the plan.
“We do not rule out the possibility. We will adjust [the plan] if it is necessary, looking at both the supply and demand sides,” Mao said.
Mao said Taiwan did not have any problem on the supply side, adding that many new hotels were being built.
He said that travel agencies arranging tours for Chinese tourists should offer in-depth or different theme tours.
The Tourism Bureau said that both sides have agreed to execute the new FIT program in two stages after considering factors such as a city’s readiness for such a program and the balance of different regions in China.
The new program is scheduled to begin in Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu on April 28.
Visitors in the four other cities on the list might be allowed to visit through the FIT program before the end of this year, the bureau said.
The Chinese FIT program was launched on June 28 last year. As of February, about 46,000 Chinese FITs had visited Taiwan.
The bureau said no major violations or overstays had been recorded.
About 1.78 million Chinese visited Taiwan last year, a 9 percent increase on the previous year.
Chinese visitors accounted for 29.2 percent of total international tourists last year.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern