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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 26, 2002

Taiwan Authorities Urged to Open Taiwan to Mainland Tourists

Over a thousand tourism managers from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, at the Fifth Cross-Strait Tourism Fellowship Party held in Beijing, urged that Taiwan should open its door to mainland residents to go there for tourism as soon as possible, said sources from the China National Tourism Administration.


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Over a thousand tourism managers from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, at the Fifth Cross-Strait Tourism Fellowship Party held in Beijing, urged that Taiwan should open its door to mainland residents to go there for tourism as soon as possible, said sources from the China National Tourism Administration.

The number of Taiwan compatriots coming to the mainland for travel, visiting relatives and doing business had increased from 440,000 in 1988 to 3.44 million last year. By the end of last year, the total number of Taiwan people coming to the mainland through Hong Kong or Macao had surpassed 23.8 million, according to He Guangwei, chairman of the Travel Association of China.

He noted that we welcome Taiwan compatriots to come to the mainland for visit and sightseeing, and it is our consistent view that it should be made fully possible for mainland compatriots to tour Taiwan, The "three direct links (trade, mail and air and shipping services)" between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits is China's internal affair and therefore it is fully possible to turn these links into reality as quickly as possible by conducting consultations between non-governmental organizations, trades and companies. The arrangements of concrete matters pertinent to mainland compatriots to go to Taiwan for tourism should also be made by this method, so that mainlanders can travel to Taiwan as soon as possible. He expressed the hope that Taiwan authorities would adopt practical and effective measures and take a solid step forward in this regard.

Under the circumstance of Taiwan's economic slump, providing mainland residents with access to Taiwan for tourism would serve to boost Taiwan's tourism market and facilitate exchanges between people across the Straits, says Lee Ching-song, board chairman of the Taiwan-based Travel Quality Assurance Association.

Taiwan compatriots' tour of the mainland is gaining good momentum, and Taiwan people have great expectations of mainland residents having access to visiting Taiwan, says Christopher Hsu, chairman of the Cross-Straits Travel Association. He calls on the Taiwan authorities to lift related restrictions at an earliest possible date and realize two-way exchanges between people across the Straits.



No Official Word on Taiwan Tourist Proposal
Taipei's widely-publicized plan to open the island to Chinese mainland tourists has still not been confirmed due to "an absence of concrete arrangements between the two sides."

Officials said it is uncertain whether mainland residents will be able to visit Taiwan from July 1 as suggested, although Taipei said it is planning to lift a decades-old ban on visits. (In Detail)



By PD Online staff member Li Heng

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