Disappearing Chinese tourists are not a phenomenon unique to this country, and China should pay more attention to the problem, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chair-man Johnnason Liu (劉德勳) said yesterday.
Following the disappearance of another 13 Chinese tourists on Tuesday, one of the four people remaining in the tour group was reported missing on Thursday.
The council said that in Japan more than 300 people are missing out of 90,000 Chinese visitors, while of around 600,000 Chinese tourists in Korea, more than 69,000 people had disappeared. There were also around 3,900 Chinese people out of 120,000 visitors who had disappeared in Australia. The council did not say what period of time the numbers were referring to.
"The disappearance of Chinese tourists is putting pressure on the countries surrounding China," Liu said.
Liu urged China to work together with Taiwan to prevent more tourists from disappearing when visiting the country.
"I hope the public will not look down upon Chinese tourists in general because of these incidents. But China should pay more attention to the problem so that Taiwan can treat them as it would tourists from any other country," Liu said.
He added that the council had not changed its open attitude in regard to cross-strait exchanges. The government would not, therefore, make any changes to its "second category" tour program, he said.
The "second category" covers Chinese tourists who make stops in other countries for business or pleasure before arriving in Taiwan.
The person who disappeared on Thursday was Lin Mei-yu (林梅育), a woman from Fujian Province. Her tour guide reportedly took her to Taipei Zoo to cheer her up after finding her in an "unstable condition," crying and threatening to commit suicide.
Lin disappeared when the tour guide went to the toilet.
Liu said that Lin had possible connections to the 13 other missing people.
He also said that the council would attempt to ascertain why the tourists left their tour group. Meanwhile, the tour group's remaining three tourists will be accompanied at all times by two tourist guides, Liu said.
Travel agencies reached a joint agreement on July 13 to refuse tourism applications from Fujian Province, as all missing tourists to date come from there.
Chinese from Fujian Province who can demonstrate that they have regular employment at home are excepted and will be allowed to join tour groups from other provinces. The government is thinking about formalizing the voluntary measure.
In related news, the Taipei District Court recently fined a man NT$30,000 (US$885) for violating regulations on hiring Chinese.
Court officials said that Lin Lin-yung (林燐鏞), the supervisor of a construction site, hired a Chinese man -- who was in the country visiting family -- to do cleaning work.
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