Taiwan has never restricted the status of Chinese residents visiting Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties through the "small three links," the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the restrictions were unilaterally set by China.
As China has lifted its restrictions, Taiwan would process Chinese travelers’ applications according to existing regulations, the council said.
The Shanghai City Government yesterday lifted travel restrictions to allow city residents to visit Kinmen and Matsu individually or as part of group tours, through qualified travel agencies in Shanghai and China’s Fujian Province, the Shanghai Culture and Tourism Administration said.
Photo: CNA
The announcement came after representatives from the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a forum in Beijing in February.
After the forum, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Feb. 4 said that it planned to reopen travel to Taiwan’s outlying islands, but did not specify when.
The Mainland Affairs Council at the time said that normalized cross-strait tourism must be free of political preconditions, adding that it would wait for concrete measures from the Chinese side before assessing its response.
Meanwhile, Kinmen County Deputy Commissioner Lee Wen-liang (李文良) yesterday said that Kinmen County welcomes Chinese visitors.
The county’s attractions include a shared cultural heritage originating in China’s southern Minnan region, maintenance of old clan identity and a tradition of military service, in addition to its natural scenery, he said.
Kinmen would prepare to receive Chinese tourists in collaboration with the private sector as it waits for central government officials to authorize Shanghai’s proposal, he added.
China stopped issuing individual travel permits for Chinese residents visiting Taiwan from Aug.1, 2019.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan implemented restrictions on entry for Chinese residents from Jan. 25, 2020, and as the pandemic normalized, Taiwan allowed Chinese residents living or studying in third countries to apply for tourist visas to Taiwan from Sep. 1, 2023.
Taipei has not restricted Taiwanese residents from traveling to China individually, but a ban on organized group tours remains in place.
Regarding the resumption of full cross-strait tourism, the MAC has repeatedly urged Chinese authorities to open communications on issues related to tourism safety, quality control, stability and fairness through the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and the Association for Tourism Exchange Across The Taiwan Straits.
The associations were established by Taipei and Beijing respectively to facilitate coordination and negotiations between the two sides on tourism.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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