Following advice by the EU, Belgium yesterday said that it would from July 5 allow Taiwanese to visit the country without presenting a negative COVID-19 test report or undergoing quarantine.
“Good news for anyone travelling from #Taiwan to #Belgium! Since last 21 June, Taiwan is no longer considered as a high risk/red zone,” the Belgian Office Taipei wrote on Facebook.
Visitors from Taiwan would no longer need a document showing that they are traveling for an “essential reason” or show a negative polymerase chain reaction test result to board a plane to Belgium as long as Taiwan remains “green” or “orange” on the country’s COVID-19-risk map, the office said, adding that the rule would take effect on July 5.
However, travelers would still be required to fill in their data in the country’s Passenger Locator Form 48 hours before their planned arrival in Belgium, the office said.
If a traveler has spent at least one day in a place that Belgium considers a “red zone” during the 14 days prior to their arrival, a negative test report and quarantine would still be required, it said.
The announcement came after Germany and the Netherlands eased rules for Taiwanese tourists following the publication of an EU list of COVID-19-“safe” countries on Friday last week.
Meanwhile, France on Thursday updated its risk-assessment map, showing Taiwan in “green.” Taiwanese travelers would no longer be required to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said on its Web site.
However, unvaccinated travelers from the nation would have to present a negative COVID-19 test report before boarding a flight to France, it added.
France on June 9 reopened its borders to travelers from non-EU countries, based on their COVID-19 situation and whether travelers are vaccinated.
It categorizes other countries in three color-coded groups — “green,” “orange” and “red.”
Green indicates that there is no active circulation of COVID-19 in the country and no reports of highly contagious variants of the virus, while orange indicates a “controlled” active circulation of the virus and no reports of variants of concern.
Among the 16 countries listed as red, with active circulation and variants of concern, are Argentina, India, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
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