Taiwan is considering visa entry privileges for tourists from eight ASEAN members, in line with the government’s “New Southbound Policy,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
In a report submitted to several legislative committees, the ministry said it has been working to promote the government’s new policy, which was outlined by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during last year’s presidential election campaign.
Visitors from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam would be granted entry privileges such as visa waivers, landing visas or e-visas, according to the report.
Visitors from two other ASEAN member nations, Malaysia and Singapore, already enjoy visa exemptions for stays of up to 30 days in Taiwan.
As the “New Southbound Policy” aims to achieve an economic transformation for Taiwan and push for a greater role for the nation in foreign affairs and global issues, Southeast Asia forms a key segment that Taiwan must seize as part of its efforts to expand its domestic market with a “people-focused” strategy, the report said.
To achieve this goal, Taiwan is emphasizing joining regional economic integration and attracting tourists from Southeast Asia and South Asia, it said.
Taiwan had a “Go South” push in the 1990s under then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), but it did not succeed because China was opening up at the time and the region was hit by the 1997 financial crisis.
With the Democratic Progressive Party’s win in both the presidential and legislative elections in January, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan has fallen in recent months.
To compensate for the loss in tourism dollars from Chinese visitors, the government is keen to attract tourists from Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, without compromising national security and public order, the ministry said.
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
‘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
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man