Taiwan, China reach impasse on cross-strait group travel
ROC Central News Agency
05/19/2023 09:50 PM
Taipei, May 19 (CNA) Taiwan will not lift its restriction on cross-strait travel for the time being despite China's announcement that it has ended its ban on tour groups from Taiwan, according to the Tourism Bureau on Friday.
Taiwan's government will continue its ban on tour groups from China visiting Taiwan and from Taiwan visiting China, a policy first introduced in early 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Tourism Bureau chief Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) told reporters.
Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), announced Friday morning that Chinese travel agencies will be allowed to resume business involving Taiwan group tourists, effective immediately.
Although Taiwan welcomed China's announcement, regulations on group travel should be negotiated through existing channels -- the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits -- Chang explained.
Talks via the two semi-official entities can ensure cross-strait travel is reinstated reciprocally, he said, expressing hope that discussions can be started by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top government agency in charge of cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, said that such talks can better protect travel safety and market order for both sides.
The MAC also called on Beijing to permit group travel to Taiwan, adding that Taiwan has always welcomed Chinese tourists and never sought to stop Taiwanese from visiting China, without explaining how that position is consistent with the policy of banning group travel in both directions.
Beijing, which has banned independent Chinese tourists from visiting Taiwan since August 2019 and group travel since 2020, has shown no indications that it is interested in engaging in formal talks to resume cross-strait travel, the MAC said.
(By Lu Chia-jung, Yu Hsiao-han and Lee Hsin-Yin)
Enditem/AW
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
