TPP official challenges legality of China tour ban

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus convener Huang Kuo-chang on Monday (Feb. 19) questioned the legal grounds of the government's ban on group tours to China, suspecting it was a knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic situation.

The Tourism Administration, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, originally planned to allow local travel agencies to organize group tours to the mainland starting in March.

However, a sudden change was made by the government just before the Lunar New Year holiday, announcing a "ban on group tours" to China effective from June 1.

Huang claimed that the inconsistencies in the government's reasoning suggest a dubious legal basis for the ban.

He accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government of haphazardly referring to the "Act for the Development of Tourism" as the legal foundation for the ban, using vague legal concepts for post-event assessment as the basis for punishment.

Huang stressed that the government should cease resorting to lies and absurd methods to cover up previous untruths, warning that it may find itself drowning in a pool of broken promises and half-truths.