Canada became the 39th country to grant Taiwanese visa-free privileges, effective yesterday, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT) announced on its Web site, a move that will save Republic of China (ROC) citizens precious money when traveling to the North American giant.
“Effective Nov. 22, 2010, holders of ordinary Taiwan passports that contain a personal identification number and are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MOFA] in Taiwan no longer require a Temporary Resident Visa [TRV] to visit Canada,” the announcement said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) called a press conference to welcome the inclusion of Taiwan in Canada’s six-month visa-waiver program and to express appreciation.
Ottawa’s decision to lift TRV requirements for ordinary Taiwanese was based on an evidence-based assessment and on the principle of balance between welcoming visitors to Canada and protecting the safety, security and health of Canadians, CTOT said.
Since 1994, Canadians have been exempted from visa requirements in Taiwan.
“This decision has both lowered the cost and increased the convenience for Taiwanese travelers who wish to visit Canada for tourism, to study, or to do business, and will boost Canada’s significant commercial, cultural and people-to-people links with Taiwan,” it said.
Under the visa-waiver program, holders of regular ROC passports can visit Canada for a period of up to six months for purposes other than working, CTOT said.
“The period of time a person is allowed to stay is determined by an Immigration Officer when arriving at a Canadian port of entry, and unless otherwise indicated, it is up to six months,” it said.
More than 150,000 Taiwanese are estimated to visit Canada every year, the seventh-largest source of foreign visitors. About 15,000 Taiwanese are studying in Canada.
Canada is the fourth most popular destination for Taiwanese studying abroad, following the US, the UK and Australia, the ministry said.
Inclusion in the visa waiver program will save Taiwanese a large sum on visa fees, which are estimated at between NT$374 million (US$12.3 million) and NT$450 million per year, Yang said. Single-entry visas cost NT$2,250, while multiple-entry visas cost NT$4,500.
Yang said Canada’s move demonstrates that the international community was generally recognizing Taiwan as a country whose people are law-abiding, courteous and civilized.
The ministry said a total of 40 countries or territories have now granted Taiwan visa-free treatment and ROC citizens could also enter 21 countries or territories on landing visas.
“Our passport is the one that our nationals can travel around the world with,” Yang said.
Negotiations on the visa-waiver program with the Canadian government did not involve the issue of importing Canadian bone-in beef, Yang said.
“We did not use the beef issue to exchange being granted visa-free treatment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands also announced yesterday that it would grant ROC citizens visa-free entry for short-term travel.
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
Taiwanese trade negotiators told Washington that Taipei would not relocate 40 percent of its semiconductor production to the US, and that its most advanced technologies would remain in the nation, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said on Sunday. “I told the US side very clearly — that’s impossible,” Cheng, who led the negotiation team, said in an interview that aired on Sunday night on Chinese Television System. Cheng was referring to remarks last month by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in which he said his goal was to bring 40 percent of Taiwan’s chip supply chain to the US Taiwan’s almost
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday released the first images from its Formosat-8A satellite, featuring high-resolution views of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor (興達港), Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo and Barcelona airport. Formosat-8A, named the “Chi Po-lin Satellite” after the late Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It is designed to capture images at a 1m resolution, which can be sharpened to 0.7m after processing, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5, the agency said. It is the first of TASA’s eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent into orbit and
RSS