The suspension of all outbound and inbound tours for Taiwanese travel agencies is to be extended until the end of next month, as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The ban, which began on March 19, was originally scheduled to last until the end of this month.
Although Taiwan has reached 101 days with no new domestic cases of COVID-19 and over the past few weeks has had only a handful of new imported cases, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has passed 15 million, with more than 610,000 deaths, according to WHO data.
In accordance with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) disease prevention measures, the bureau said that it has extended the ban until Aug. 31.
Taiwan bans the entry of foreign nationals with few exceptions, and overseas arrivals, including Taiwanese nationals, are subject to a 14-day quarantine upon entry.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said that the visa-free privilege extended to tourists from Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Russia would be extended for one year, effective from Saturday next week to July 31 next year.
The ministry said that the policy is not a relaxation of Taiwan’s ban on the entry of foreign tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whether restrictions on foreign nationals coming to Taiwan for tourism purposes will be relaxed depends on the CECC’s assessment of the global pandemic situation,” the ministry said in a statement.
The decision to extend the visa-free treatment for the countries was reached following assessments in an inter-agency meeting on May 29, it said.
“The number of tourists last year from Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Russia rose 34.49 percent, 41.32 percent, 100.37 percent and 407.55 percent respectively year-on-year, indicating that the visa-free measures are attracting foreign travelers,” it said.
The Taiwanese government gave visa-free treatment to select countries beginning in 2016 under its New Southbound Policy, which seeks closer exchanges with countries in the region, especially those in Southeast Asia.
The inter-agency meeting also extended a project for simplifying visa regulations for high-end group tourists from Southeast Asian countries until Dec. 31 next year, the ministry said.
The project, aimed at making it easier for high-end tourists from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to visit Taiwan, was first implemented on Nov. 1, 2015, and is to expire at the end of this year.
The ministry also announced that starting on Saturday next week, holders of Japanese or South Korean visas who wish to apply for conditional visa-free entry must present proof of entry in at least one of the two countries.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS