Taiwan seeks expanded China travel ties as restriction eases

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Wang Kwo-tsai expressed disappointment Monday (April 29) over the limited scope of China's recent goodwill gesture to resume cross-strait tourism.

Just one day earlier, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced it would allow residents of Fujian province to travel to Matsu, a move seen by industry insiders as a glimmer of hope for cross-strait tourism.

However, Wang pointed out that before the pandemic, residents from 47 Chinese cities were allowed to travel freely to Taiwan, and the current opening only permits Fujian residents to visit Matsu.

Wang noted that the "Mini three links" previously saw 300,000 visits annually, with 90% of those visits to Kinmen. The current opening only to Matsu represents a significantly smaller portion of that traffic.

In response to industry calls to lift the ban on group tours to China after June, Wang said Taiwan has shown goodwill, with individual travelers currently allowed to visit for tourism.

From March 1 to the end of May, 100,000 people in 4,000 groups have registered to travel to China.

Regarding China's request for Taiwan to restore direct sea and air routes to 30 mainland destinations, including Tianjin, Wang said that while these routes are closely tied to tourism, without a full reopening of cross-strait tourism, any additional routes would be underutilized.

Wang reiterated that a full reopening from China would be welcomed, but with only one province currently open, further details will need to be discussed in interdepartmental meetings.

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