The Tourism Bureau on Monday said it opposes a series of online advertisements that appear to discriminate against Chinese tourists.
A series of advertisements entitled Taiwan without Chinese tourists that have been circulating on social media have triggered anger from Chinese netizens, who say they are discriminatory against travelers from China.
The online ads, with Mandarin, English and Japanese headlines, say that the quality of tourism at popular scenic spots such as Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County and Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County has improved as a result of a decline in the number of Chinese tourists.
Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said the ads are not official and that his bureau would be more than happy to see the public promote tourism in a different, but not discriminatory, way.
He said that the bureau had instructed its Shanghai office to make a clarification and to extend a welcome to tourists from “all countries” around the globe.
“Tourism is a happy industry, and it should use positive ways to promote Taiwan. Otherwise, it would only harm Taiwan,” Liu said.
Figures released by the Mainland Affairs Council showed that the number of Chinese tourists visiting as members of tour groups dropped 30 percent in May and last month compared with the same period last year, but independent Chinese travelers increased by 10 percent and 20 percent respectively over the two month period.
In recent years, China has become the biggest source of inbound travelers.
Last year, 4.18 million out of a total of 10.4 million visitors to Taiwan came from China, and most of them came in groups organized by state-run travel agencies.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS