Why Not to Get it at Hand Instead of from Far-off

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 24, 2003

Why Not to Get it at Hand Instead of from Far-off

To open the door to the tourists from the Chinese motherland, the Taiwan Authority wants to be "in order", but actually can be "quickened", to promote "sightseeing program for doubling the visitors", the Taiwan Authority wants to get it from the "far-off" but "near at hand" must not be "left aside".

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The Taiwan Authority is now promoting a set of "Sightseeing Program for Doubling the Visitors" to the Island. To carry it out, it is now on the one hand calling for the improvement of tourism facilities in the Island while on the other it is also appealing to raise the service quality.

In the meanwhile it is strengthening its publicity so as to attract tourists from abroad and revitalize the weakened tourism industry in the Island, providing more vitality to the development of economy. So we should say this is a good thing for benefiting the people in the Island, worth of giving a thumb's up. However, people are easy to find that the Taiwan Authority pays attention only to the foreigners from abroad instead of a great number of people from the Chinese motherland when soliciting tourists.

Is it that the people of the Chinese motherland have no interest in going to Taiwan for visit? No! The beautiful landscape on the Island, the rich humane culture and the achievements obtained in social and economic development, all these have long been catching the attention of the people from the Chinese mainland. Even the children know that there is an Ali Mountain, Sun and Moon Pool, Green Island and the Grandma's Penghu Bay in Taiwan. Not to say that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits share the same language and the same root. A statistics of tourists by Taiwan tourism industry indicates that the tourist arrivals to Taiwan would come to a surprising number of hundreds of millions should the door of Taiwan tourism be opened to the great many people from the Chinese motherland.

Is it that the people from the Chinese motherland are weak in consumption? Again No! According to the estimates of visitors to the Island by Taiwan tourism industry, say, every day with a permission for 1000 people from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan and a duration of 10 days for visit this will bring Taiwan a yearly tourism turnover of around 27 billion in new Taiwan currency (one RMB yuan equals to four yuan of the currency). In the meanwhile, it is possible to create tens of thousands of employment opportunities and also it is a long and stable source of economy.

Towards such a large tourism resource other places will be quite pleased to tap for it yet the Taiwan Authority failed to lay its hand on for making a good use of it. The motive here is quite questionable.

However, they have their own speechified expressions, the most important of which is that they are afraid that the people from the Chinese motherland will remain in Taiwan without going back, leaving some hidden danger behind if Taiwan is opened to tourists from China's motherland. About this the tour operators in the Island retorted that during the years gone by many people went from the Chinese mainland to other places in the world for tours or doing business. Nothing of such a sort as to "stay on without return" has ever happened. How can this case happen when they come to Taiwan for tours? Should this happen here it must be the case in which the tangerines from Huainan suddenly turn sour when they are transported to Huaibei. Actually, what the Authority says about "stay on without return" or the so-called "hidden danger" cannot but be a pretext. The cause at the bottom is that some of the Taiwan Authority do not like the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to come too closer nor do they like to let them know more about one another, to increase feelings and to have more things in common.

Nevertheless, pressed by the tour operators in the Island, starting from last year onwards, the Taiwan Authority agreed that the people from the Chinese mainland who are staying abroad may form into tourist groups to go to Taiwan for sightseeing, and also agreed that the people of the Chinese mainland who went to any third countries or regions (not including Hong Kong and Macao) for business or tours may form into groups to go to Taiwan for visit. But the practice and time prove that the result is quite limited, which will do no good at all for revitalizing the tourism industry in the Island. Not to say the difficult procedures that have put people behind with not many groups coming into being so far, even those groups to Taiwan for visit have also been taken good care of as 'thieves". They have to get together in the morning and to call the roll in the evening without being permitted to see friends or relatives. Just imagine how can such a tour be of any fun and happiness to tourists?

To open the door to the tourists from the Chinese motherland, the Taiwan Authority wants to be "in order", but actually can be "quickened", to promote "sightseeing program for doubling the visitors", the Taiwan Authority wants to get it from the "far-off" but "near at hand" must not be "left aside".

By Han Rongliang, People's Daily Online

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