Bus crash may bring changes to policies on Chinese tourists

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on October 5, 2006. It reports that relatives of injured and deceased Chinese tourists recently arrived in Taiwan to assist in handling the aftermath of a bus crash that took five lives of Chinese tourists and injured 15. While relatives mourned the dead and nursed the wounded, officials in Taiwan considered how to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

According to the Mainland Affairs Council, a 26-member delegation, consisting of 19 family relatives of the dead and injured tourists, five Chinese medical staff and two Chinese officials, recently arrived in central Taiwan's Nantou County where the bus crash happened. The bodies of the dead were taken to a Nantou morgue to await identification by family members.

According to the council, another 20 Chinese tourists from the tour group recently left Taiwan for China via Hong Kong. As some members lost their travel documents in the bus crash, officials from the Tourism Bureau were on hand to help them when they arrived in the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Before leaving Taiwan, group members expressed their appreciation for the assistance provided by Taiwan's officials.

According to the Tourism Bureau, the injured Chinese tourists decided not to file a lawsuit against the tourist agency. The bureau recently gave an NT$50,000 fine to the tourist agency due to its negligence in taking care of the tourists.

The accident happened on October 4, 2006, when the bus skidded off the New Central Taiwan Cross-Island Highway and fell into a 10-meter-deep valley.

The accident has drawn substantial concern about Chinese tourists who visit Taiwan. Because Chinese people are currently not allowed to travel to Taiwan under China's law, most Chinese tourists travel to Taiwan via a third country.

According to media reports, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of the Interior are likely to push forward the announcement of the amendatory acts of the Regulations Governing the People of the Mainland Area Engaging in Sightseeing Activities in Taiwan.

This is a by-law of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The amendments are expected to go into effect as soon as possible in order to protect the rights of Chinese tourists who travel to Taiwan. With the amendments in effect, all tourist agencies in Taiwan will have to sign a contract, promising to provide quality services to Chinese tourists.

Violators of the contract will lose the privilege of being able to work with Chinese tourists. At present, the travel services provided to Chinese tourists are divided into three levels, based on tour fees - US$80, US$100 and US$120 per person per day. The US$120 tour fee ensures Chinese tourists to stay in five-star hotels, have dinner fees on NT$500 per person, and the tourists may choose to skip shopping trips. Meanwhile, the US$80 tour fee promises that Chinese tourists will stay in three-star hotels with dining fees of NT$250 per person.

The aforementioned amendments are scheduled to be put into effect after the Mainland Affairs Council has reached a consensus with China to open bilateral tourism across the Taiwan Strait. The council is optimistic that by the end of 2006, cross-strait tourists can come and go freely and legally.