New hotlines to help people evaluate possible safety risks before they travel to China, Hong Kong or Macau have been launched, the Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement on Monday.
The hotlines were launched amid a rise in inquiries from Taiwanese planning to travel to China, the council said.
The number of people who used its “Online Registration System for Taiwanese Citizens Visiting Mainland China” this year through Oct. 31 had increased 14-fold from the same period last year, it said.
Photo: Reuters
Registrations for people traveling to Hong Kong and Macau had increased five-fold from the same period last year, it added.
Taiwanese traveling to China do not have to inform the government, but for safety reasons, there is a system that allows it, the council said.
To assist people to use the new online registration system, or to evaluate potential safety risks of their travel plans, the council and the Straits Exchange Foundation jointly launched the hotline services, which are available on weekdays from 9am to 5pm, it said.
People planning to travel to China can use the Mainland Affairs Council’s hotline at (02) 2397-5589 (ex 5011) or the Straits Exchange Foundation’s hotline at (02) 2175-7000 (ex 7033), while people traveling to Hong Kong or Macau can contact the council at (02) 2397-5589 (ex 6015), the statement said.
The services were launched after Beijing amended and enacted national security laws in the past few years, and on June 21 issued a new set of guidelines targeting advocates of Taiwanese independence.
There have also been multiple cases of Taiwanese being “illegally detained, held and interrogated” in China, the council said.
The council on June 27 raised its travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to the second-highest “orange” level, urging people to avoid unnecessary travel there due to increasing safety concerns, it added.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS