New body to handle China tourist issues

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman Joseph Wu said Taiwan would shortly set up the “Taiwan Strait Tourism Association”, with government officials on its board.

Wu said he expected cross-strait negotiations to be completed by the end of the year, with Chinese tourists expected to visit Taiwan by this time.

“We want China to start talks on (tourism) as soon as possible,” Wu said.

The new association, Wu said, “will facilitate further negotiations and communications. It can give assistance in arranging for bilateral talks and other work.”

“Our side has evaluated the objective state of cross-strait talks and believes the time is ripe for this,” Wu said.

China insists Taiwan is a renegade province and has threatened to retake the island if it pushes for independence, by force if necessary.

But despite military tensions, the two sides are moving towards increasing economic interdependence. Some business analysts have predicted that if one million Chinese visitors were in Taiwan an average of eight days and each spent US$150 a day, the boost to annual visitor spending would be US$1.2 billion. That figure would be 33 percent of Taiwan’s total visitor spending in 2004.

“We will continue to actively communicate with the mainland side so that formal talks can start as soon as possible and arrangements can be completed,” Wu said.

Beijing normally shuns any form of official contact with the pro-independence government here. Previously, private Taiwanese tourism organizations authorized by the government had been negotiating with China over tourism issues.

“In this way, our good intentions....of allowing mainland visitors to visit Taiwan and engage in high quality travel can be realized,” Wu said.

The new association will have nine to 11 directors. The MAC has preliminary plans for its chairman to be the head of Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau Hsu Wen-sheng.

It’s directors will include the deputy head of the bureau Lai Seh-jen, the deputy head of the Bureau of Immigration Wu Hsueh-yeh and representatives from major tourist associations.

Wu said the new organization would deal purely with cross-strait tourism issues, such as handling disputes. It would not be used for negotiating direct flights, he said.

Wu said talks on direct, non-stop flights would be continued to be carried out by private Taiwanese and Chinese airline associations authorized by both governments.

“That channel will stay in place,” Wu said.

The new association would also not be used as a substitute for Taiwan’s over-a-decade-old semi-official agency for negotiating with China on general issues, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

“We have no wish...to replace the functions of the SEF,” Wu said.

“It has very important historical significance,” he said.

Head of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportations and Communications (MOTC), Hsu Wen-sheng said the government is expected to donate funds of NT$500,000 to be used for setting up the new organization and five private tourism organizations are expected to donate funds of NT$10,000 each.

Wu also said that the Central Bank was carefully considering plans to set up a currency exchange system between the Renminbi and New Taiwan dollar on Taiwan’s main island to deal with the influx of mainland tourists.

“We are researching on how to communicate with China about this,” he said.

Premier Su Tseng-chang has said that all accompanying measures, such as currency exchange mechanisms, should be in place when Chinese tourists come to Taiwan. Currently exchanges between the two currencies can take place only on Taiwan’s outlying islands.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email