The Tourism Bureau yesterday rejected a demand from a Chinese travel agency to ban videos with anti-Communist content on tour buses transporting Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan.
Any videos can be shown on tour buses as long as they have legal copyright and their content does not violate “good morals,” the bureau said.
It does not matter if the videos involve anti-Communist content, it added.
The issue came to the fore after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) yesterday published a story about a Chinese tour group visiting Taiwan last month being shown a Britishproduced documentary about former Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) while on a tour bus.
It is customary in Taiwan for tour bus drivers to show movies during trips.
According to an investigation by the Tourism Bureau, only one elderly member of the group was dissatisfied with the video, complaining that the representation of Mao in the documentary was different from what he believed it to be.
The Taiwanese guide consulted the other tour group members and was told that they wanted to continue watching the video.
After receiving the tourist’s complaint, the Chinese travel agency organizing the tour demanded that the Taiwanese travel agency stop showing anti-Communist documentaries on tour buses carrying Chinese tourists, the Liberty Times reported, adding that it also demanded that Taiwanese guides refrain from expressing points of view different from their Chinese clients.
The Tourism Bureau said it would ask Chinese tourism authorities to look into the incident and respect the pluralism and freedom of speech in Taiwan.
“Taiwan is a free and democratic society, and as long as the rights of others are not infringed upon, Chinese tourists should not only abide by Taiwan’s laws, but should also respect different opinions and ideologies,” the bureau said.
According to Tourism Bureau statistics, nearly 4 million Chinese visited Taiwan last year, by far the largest group among the nation’s 9 million visitors last year.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old