Almost 300 Taiwanese tourists were yesterday stranded in Bali, Indonesia, after the airport was shut down for 24 hours due to volcanic activity on Mount Agung.
Tourism Bureau data showed that there were 275 tourists in 17 Taiwanese tour groups on the island.
The tour groups were organized by a number of local travel agencies, including Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社), South East Travel Service (東南旅行社), Sunshine Travel Service Co (雙向國際旅行社), Richmond International Travel and Tours (山富國際), Life Tour (五福旅遊), Star Travel (燦星國際), Hsi Hung Travel Service (喜鴻旅行社) and Fest Tour (慶澤旅行社), the bureau said.
Tourists in the groups are all safe, it said.
An estimated 37 tour groups — 521 tourists in total — are scheduled to leave for Bali in the next few days, but five of the groups — 54 tourists — have canceled their trips, it said.
The bureau has also informed all travel agencies that tour guides leading tours in Bali must monitor the latest information published by the Indonesian government, adding that they should ensure the safety of the tourists by keeping away from areas that could be affected by volcanic activity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday raised its travel alert for Bali to orange, meaning that visitors should be extremely cautious and avoid traveling to the island unless it is absolutely necessary.
The ministry cited a notice published by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management, which has changed the volcano observatory notice for aviation to red, the highest alert.
The notice said that I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport was to be closed for 24 hours, starting yesterday.
Taiwanese tourists who are scheduled to travel to Bali are advised to keep in contact with their airlines and monitor flight information, the ministry said.
Because the ministry has issued an orange alert for Bali, the bureau said in a statement last night that tourists are entitled to invoke Article 15 on the standardized contract and seek refunds from travel agencies.
Travel agencies should refund the fees upon request after deducting non-refundable fees and a maximum 5 percent processing charge, the bureau said.
In addition to seeking refunds from travel agencies, travelers could negotiate with travel agencies on the possibility of postponing their trip or switching to a tour group in a different destination, the bureau said.
China Airlines (中華航空) yesterday canceled all flights to and from Bali from yesterday to tomorrow.
EVA Airways (長榮航空) canceled its flights to and from Bali yesterday.
Whether flights to and from Bali would be canceled today depends on the Indonesian government, the airline said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats