In the wake of an offer to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan, a legislator yesterday said Beijing should show good will by taking back the 2,223 illegal Chinese immigrants currently detained here.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and caucus whip, Peter Lin (
He said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
He said if China really wants to show good will to the Taiwanese, it should help solve the problem as soon as possible.
Lin said according to the Immigration Office under the National Police Agency, three detention centers located in Hsinchu, Ilan and Matsu currently hold hundreds of Chinese immigrants. Detained within the facilities are 711 males and 1,512 females.
Lin said the immigrants are waiting for boats to take them back to China. They are waiting indefinitely, as the Chinese government has purposely delayed their repatriation.
The government spends a lot of money every year to care for the detainees, and this situation could potentially be made worse by an influx of Chinese tourists, who may abscond while visiting Taiwan, Lin said.
In addition, according to law enforcement officials, there are 480 Taiwanese criminals on the lam in China, including Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元), former Pingtung county commissioner who was found guilty of corruption; Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), a former Kaohsiung City Council speaker found guilty of vote-buying in a council speakership election; and Eddie Liu (劉偉杰), a former employee of the prominent Taiwanese law firm Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law, who embezzled NT$3 billion, Lin said.
According to Immigration Office of the National Police Agency, 38,617 Chinese people have traveled to Taiwan after the their government allowed tourists to come to here by application, in a trial period which began in 2002 and was discontinued in March.
Lin said National Security Bureau Deputy Director Wang Chin-wang (
According to Lin, Wang said that easing the travel ban on Chinese tourists would have some impact on the nation's security.
Lin said the government should therefore not allow Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or