Plan to fingerprint PRC tourists not yet finalized, says MAC

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 27, 2006. It reports that according to the Mainland Affairs Council, the government has not yet made any decision on whether visitors from China should be required to have their fingerprints taken upon arrival in Taiwan. So far, relevant government agencies are still discussing the plan, which was proposed by the Ministry of Justice.

The plan was proposed as a potential method to regulate Chinese tourists and fishing boat crews, and to catch illegal Chinese immigrants. Although more and more countries around the world have adopted similar measures for the sake of national security, the government in Taiwan has yet to decide whether to implement such a requirement for Chinese nationals.

There have been debates on whether Taiwan will accept such a requirement if China decides to implement a similar measure that takes the fingerprints of Taiwanese nationals who visit China. Questions have also been raised, regarding whether the requirement should be imposed on visitors from other foreign countries in order to show impartiality.

In 2002, the government in Taiwan decided to allow Chinese nationals who meet specific criteria to visit Taiwan. Since then, the government has been keeping a quota of 1,000 Chinese tourist entries per day. As of April 15, 2006, a total of 112,091 Chinese tourists have visited Taiwan. Among them, 108 absconded during their stay in Taiwan, 74 of whom have been found.

At present, Chinese nationals who are allowed to make pleasure trips Taiwan include those are studying abroad, those who have obtained permanent resident status overseas, and those who transfer to Taiwan after visiting a third country.