A ban on cross-strait group tourism is to be lifted on March 1 next year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday, weeks after the government put a reopening plan on hold after Beijing failed to reciprocate.
Wang was responding to a question from legislators about reports that tour operators were informed about the decision on Thursday.
The minister said that a formal announcement would be made before the Lunar New Year in February for a reopening on March 1 at the latest for Taiwanese groups traveling to China and Chinese groups traveling to Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Asked about the change in policy, given that the government had previously said it would only allow Taiwanese tour groups to travel to China if Beijing allows tours to Taiwan, Wang said that representatives of the travel industry have made it clear that not having tours to China would significantly harm their business.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told legislators that the plan was in its initial stages and would be formalized following the presidential election in January.
The Mainland Affairs Council on Aug. 24 said that it aimed to resume cross-strait tourism following a 30-day preparation period, but would cap the number of group travelers going in either direction at 2,000 per day in the initial phase.
When cross-strait tourism could resume would depend largely on China’s response to the policy, the council said at the time.
However, without a formal response from Beijing, Wang on Oct. 16 said that the plan would be suspended and revisited in the new year.
Travel Agents’ Association chairman Hsiao Po-jen (蕭博仁) yesterday said that based on his talks with a former government official, the ban might be lifted earlier depending on China’s response.
Tour operators have been informed of the timetable to make sure they are able to prepare before tours restart in March, the Tourism Administration said.
Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社) welcomed the decision, saying it would work with the government to prepare.
Phoenix Tours (鳳凰旅遊) general manager Benjamin Pien (卞傑民) said that returning Chinese tourists could provide revenue equivalent to the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic by the third quarter of next year.
Separately yesterday, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said that Taiwan is expected to welcome its 6 millionth visitor by the middle of next month, meeting its goal for the year.
Tourism plays a key role in Taipei’s plans to stimulate the economy and revitalize the service industry, with cultural diversity and regional character being the focus of tourism policy, Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-yu and CNA
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,