Government plans to open up visits by Chinese tourists in six months

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 14, 2006. It reports that the government in Taiwan will open up direct visits of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, even if the ongoing negotiations between Taiwan and China regarding chartered passenger and fright flights fail to produce any concrete results within six months.

According to the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan and China are currently negotiating about three issues - chartered passenger and freight flights, Chinese tourists to Taiwan, and exports of Taiwanese agricultural products to China. The government in Taiwan wants to conclude the negotiations soon. It does not mind about opening cross-strait chartered flights on holidays, as long as the arrangement is made via bilateral talks.

At present, all cross-strait chartered flights during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays have to fly over Hong Kong. Taiwan has suggested adding more optional routes.

Meanwhile, according to the Mainland Affairs Council, the government plans to announce details about a wide range of measures that govern visits of Chinese tourists to Taiwan. These measures include distribution of tourist quota, application qualifications, approval of certificates, reception process, regulation for tourist guide, planning of itinerary, maintenance of tour quality, quarantine, and safety mechanism.

Of course, if China refuses to include Taiwan in its list of officially approved tourist destination, then Taiwan will not make any unilateral announcement about the aforementioned measures. There is no point to open up visits of Chinese tourists to Taiwan if China does not allow its citizens to go there.