Taiwan is soon to reopen its border to Chinese tourists coming from a third country as the government comes under pressure to break the impasse between Taipei and Beijing that has crippled cross-strait tourism, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said on Friday.
The idea to allow Chinese tourists traveling from a third place outside China has been under discussion within the government for quite a while, and details on how to implement the new policy would be announced soon, Chen said on Facebook on Friday evening.
Chen’s post came one day after business groups and local travel operators voiced their frustration at the impasse in cross-strait travel that began in 2016.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Beijing has maintained its ban on group tours coming to Taiwan even after it announced on Thursday that it has added another 78 countries to the list of destinations where Chinese tourists are allowed to go on group tours after it loosened its COVID-19 travel restrictions in January.
Hsu Shu-po (許舒博), General Chamber of Commerce president on Thursday said that the government should step up efforts to end the stalemate in cross-strait relations.
Meanwhile, local travel agencies on the same day called on the government to extend an olive branch to Beijing by removing the ban on Taiwanese tour groups visiting China, a suggestion they have made multiple times before.
A source in the travel business, who asked to remain anonymous, on Thursday said that travel operators might take to the streets to make their voices heard if the government continues to remain unresponsive to their appeal.
The government initially responded to the exclusion of Taiwan on China’s list of 138 destinations for outbound group tours by repeating calls for Beijing to scrap the ban against the nation.
The government has urged China to open talks with Taiwan on resuming travel between the two sides on the basis of equality and reciprocity, to restore cross-strait exchanges in a healthy and orderly manner after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government had expressed a wish to Beijing, before China’s announcement on Thursday, that both sides simultaneously lift their respective bans on tourists, but Beijing has yet to respond, officials said.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, the country has seen a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists as a result of China gradually tightening its control and management of tourists to Taiwan, because Tsai refuses to endorse the notion of “one China.”
Beijing has banned Chinese tourists from traveling independently to Taiwan since Aug. 1, 2019, citing “current cross-strait relations,” and banned group travel in January 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s ban also includes applicants to Taiwanese universities.
Taiwan allows individuals to go to China for travel or study.
However, Taiwan has maintained its ban on travel agencies organizing group travel to China, which was part of its COVID-19 control measures, and has not reopened its borders to Chinese tourists.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS