Starting on Monday next week, Taiwan will resume offering visa-free entry to a select number of countries, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced at its news conference yesterday.
Citizens of Taipei’s 14 diplomatic allies, as well as the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Europe, will be able to enter Taiwan visa-free, but the ban on group tours will remain, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the center.
They will be able to enter Taiwan for business or tourism purposes, take part in exhibitions, engage in international exchanges, visit relatives or attend social events, Bureau of Consular Affairs Director-General Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
After entering Taiwan, travelers must quarantine for three days in a quarantine hotel or at a private residence, followed by four days of “disease self-prevention,” she added.
Europeans and North Americans have complained about the long wait to apply for a visa at Taiwanese embassies and foreign offices, even for Taiwanese with dual citizenship, Yeh said.
That prompted the CECC to open the nation’s borders to those countries and areas while maintaining the inbound traveler cap at 50,000 people per week, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
The opening is reciprocal, as these countries have all opened their borders to Taiwanese nationals, Wang said.
The CECC will deliberate on further border openings and whether to lift the cap on inbound travelers, he added.
Earlier yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) convened a disease prevention meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation at home and abroad, border opening and vaccine administration for adults and children.
Su told the meeting about President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last month asking the Cabinet to draft a border opening schedule and complementary measures to gradually relax disease prevention regulations, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
As the global COVID-19 outbreak is gradually brought under control, the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 has become the dominant strain, accounting for 78 percent of all cases, and needs to be monitored closely, the CECC reported in the meeting.
While domestic cases have risen, 99.55 percent had mild or no symptoms, it added.
Lo quoted Su as asking the CECC to monitor the pandemic and continue to adjust disease prevention measures accordingly.
The positivity rate of inbound travelers from Monday to Saturday last week was 3.58 percent, the CECC said, adding that after the weekly cap on inbound travelers was increased to 50,000 on Aug. 22, 44,900 people entered Taiwan last week.
During the same period, 72 percent of inbound travelers used disease prevention vehicles, while 71.1 percent used quarantine hotels, it said.
Separately, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus urged the government to announce a border opening schedule and ask the CECC to purchase next-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, which are effective against the BA.5 subvariant, as soon as possible.
Japan and South Korea have opened their borders despite the spread of the BA.5 subvariant, TPP Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) said, and the government should propose a clear border opening plan “so that the public would not feel at a loss.”
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
SOVEREIGN NATION: The Chinese premier’s remarks about the CCP’s resolve to achieve unification sought to undermine the legitimacy of Taiwan, the MAC said Taiwan will never accept Beijing’s attempts to undermine its sovereignty, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at its National Day celebrations in Beijing vowed to achieve unification with Taiwan. The CCP’s statement was not conducive to peaceful cross-strait relations, the council said. The event, hosted by the Chinese State Council, featured Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強), the other five CCP Politburo Standing Committee members and Vice President Wang Qishan (王岐山), as well as 500 guests from China and abroad. Taiwanese based in China also attended the ceremony, Xinhua news agency
The Kaohsiung District Court has ordered a man to pay a convenience store NT$600 (US$18.83) in compensation for using his own mug to refill a pot of tea eggs, ruling against the store manager’s NT$1 million claim. In May, during the peak of a domestic COVID-19 surge, a man surnamed Lee (李) added water from his mug to a pot of tea eggs after seeing it was nearly dry. A clerk stopped Lee, then discarded all 60 eggs in the pot, worth an estimated NT$600, after consulting with the manager, it said. The manager sued Lee, demanding NT$1 million for damage to the
Washington is evaluating a transfer of weapons systems requested by Taiwan, according to a copy of a report by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) that is to be submitted to lawmakers tomorrow. Asked whether the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile would be among the weapons systems, the ministry refused to comment, but said that it would not rule out announcing the specifics later this year. The ministry’s domestically sourced high-priority military investments include submarines, next-generation light frigates, rescue ships, advanced trainer jets and infantry fighting vehicles, the report said. Planned deals include F-16A and F-16B jet performance upgrades, navigation and targeting
DEFENSE-READY: The armament of the ‘Yushan’ allows for amphibious combat operations, the head of a firm involved in the ship’s construction said The navy yesterday took delivery of the first locally developed and built naval ship of more than 10,000 tonnes in a ceremony in Kaohsiung presided over by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The ROCS Yushan, an amphibious transport dock, was the result of a government-initiated indigenous shipbuilding project seeking to establish autonomy over national defense, Tsai said. She thanked CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台船), the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and the navy for their contributions. The military needs the best equipment to uphold peace and defend Taiwan as it faces military threats from China, Tsai said. The 153m long and 23m wide Yushan
RSS