The government on Tuesday announced an extension of visa-free treatment for citizens of the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei and Russia for another year after seeing significant growth in tourist numbers from these nations thanks to the program.
The visa-free trial program for the four nations was set to expire on July 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
Following a cross-ministerial meeting on May 24 attended by representatives of government units in charge of national security, the police, the investigation bureau, immigration, tourism and the economy, an agreement was reached to extend the program for another year, the statement said.
Government data show that the visa-free program, which allows foreign nationals from those countries to stay in Taiwan for 14 days, has boosted visitor arrivals.
Tourism Bureau statistics showed that nationals from 18 New Southbound Policy partner countries, most of whom are ASEAN members, including the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei, made a total of 2.6 million visits to Taiwan last year, up 13.61 percent from 2.29 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, since Russian passport holders were first granted visa-free entry in September last year, there has been a 65 percent increase from a year earlier in the number of Russian travelers to Taiwan, ministry data showed.
The government will conduct another review to see if the visa-free privileges should be extended after July 31 next year, the ministry said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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