Taiwanese nationals who want to go on overseas trips are encouraged to register online from Aug. 1, as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' bid to beef up its management of emergencies, a senior foreign ministry official said yesterday.
Chan Hsien-ching (
More and more Taiwanese nationals are making overseas trips every year, with an average of 7 million overseas trips every year. The ministry therefore decided to include such tourists in a scheme that has in the past only applied to overseas Taiwanese, Chan said.
"To ensure the safety of our nationals during short-term overseas visits, the foreign ministry decided to expand the registration mechanism that was formally limited to overseas Taiwanese, to all nationals intent on foreign travels," Chan said.
Taiwanese nationals intent on making overseas trips are encouraged to register on the bureau's Web site prior to their departure, Chan said. Related information will then be sent by e-mails to Taiwan's representative offices in the relevant countries for the management of any possible emergencies, Chan said.
Under the registration mechanism, Taiwan's representative offices will be able to issue travel warnings to registered individuals and contact the relatives of such people in times of emergency, Chan added.
"We especially encourage those who are planning to travel to unstable regions and those who plan to make long visits overseas to register," Chan said.
The bureau's Web site is: http://www.boca.gov.tw.
When asked if the ministry still plans to issue a new version of the nation's passport in autumn, despite the unresolved dispute over the design of the passport cover, Chan said yes.
He said the ministry plans to announce the details of the new passport's design in mid-October. The current secrecy is intended to defeat forgers.
But the official declined to say whether the ministry has come to a conclusion on the design of the passport cover.
The new passport cover's design has been hanging in the balance since earlier this month when Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
DPP lawmakers had opposed the change, saying it didn't go far enough to show that the passport bearer was from Taiwan and not from China.
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