The EU is likely to follow Canada in granting Taiwanese tourists visa-waiver privileges this week, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
On Nov. 11, the European Parliament approved the measure by a 559-40 vote with 13 abstentions, leaving the Council of Ministers as the final hurdle.
“The proposal will probably clear the council this week,” Ma said while meeting a parliamentarian delegation from Belgium yesterday.
The visa-waiver means that Taiwanese nationals will be able to enter participating European countries visa-free and stay for up to 90 days within a six-month period.
The exemption will apply to the Schengen Area countries. The president said the visa-waiver privileges would apply to 28 European states.
Ma added that the visa-waiver privilege bore deeper significance than just saving on application expenses.
“The most important thing is that Taiwan’s passports are becoming more valuable and that the Taiwanese are getting more respect,” he said. “A country like us does not have any diplomatic ally in Europe except for the Vatican. So why do they want to give us visa waivers? I think it is because we are good people and we deserve good treatment. Getting such a privilege is the best vote of confidence.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan yesterday reiterated its call for Malaysia to grant visa-free privileges to Taiwanese visitors on the basis of mutual benefit.
Taiwan has allowed Malaysians to visit Taiwan without a visa since 2002, and it hoped that the Malaysian government would grant the same treatment to Taiwanese visitors, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said.
Malaysia has canceled visa-on-arrival privileges for all countries since Aug. 15, claiming that many visitors had abused the privilege and overstayed their visas.
The Legislative Yuan has urged the ministry to do something about countries that are granted visa exemptions by Taiwan, but did not provide the same treatment to Taiwanese.
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