Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said.
Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Beijing’s Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait were established to facilitate tourism coordination.
Previously, Taiwanese in China who encountered travel contingencies could contact the two associations for assistance, the MAC said.
However, with communications suspended between the two associations, Taiwanese in China no longer have the same safety protections and face heightened risk, it said.
The associations should hold discussions and seek to resume cross-strait tourism diplomatic links, as the safety and interests of Taiwanese are the main priority, it said.
The government has been consistent in its goodwill toward China, but it would not compromise the rights and safety of Taiwanese, the MAC said, adding that the travel industry and the public should support efforts to build an improved framework for “cross-strait tourism 2.0.”
Separately, Bureau of Consular Affairs Director-General Cheng Cheng-yung (鄭正勇) said that travel advisory standards have been updated to take into account whether countries have signed extradition or bilateral judicial assistance treaties with China.
Before traveling abroad, Taiwanese should check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ travel advisory table on the bureau’s Web site to assess the safety of their destination, Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
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