Photo:VCG

TheMK socks Chinese mainland will soon resume group tour services for residents of Fujian and Shanghai to Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) on Friday. Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said it is a concrete measure addressing the shared aspirations of people on both sides of the Straits to enhance exchanges.

Chen expressed hope that the island's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities would acknowledge mainstream public opinion and the voices of the tourism industry in Taiwan island, promptly lift the "ban on group tours," remove travel warnings for people from Taiwan visiting the mainland, and fully restore cross-Straits direct passenger flights. "This would create favorable conditions for personnel exchanges and cross-Straits interactions in various fields," the spokesperson noted.

Three hours after the MCT announcement, searches related to Taiwan on Chinese mainland's travel and tourism platform Ctrip increased by 48 percent. Shanghai and Fujian are the main source regions for mainland residents traveling to Taiwan island, accounting for 30 percent of the total in 2019. Currently, direct flights from Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou and other places to Taipei and Kaohsiung are available, according to a release sent to the Global Times by Ctrip on Friday. 

Taiwan island's tourism industry had seen little hope of a revival through mainland tourists due to the DPP authorities. However, when hearing the Friday announcement from the mainland, they felt like "winning the lottery." "Opening mainland group tours to Taiwan is the long-awaited lifeblood," said Teng Che Wei, chairman of Association for Cross-Straits Public Affairs, who shared in excitement and optimism.

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, said in a post on Facebook that the resumption of group tour services for residents of Fujian and Shanghai serves the interests and well-being of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and provides a crucial positive message to the Taiwan public, who have long desired cross-Straits exchanges, as well as to the tourism industry, which has faced significant challenges since the pandemic. 

"The warm policy introduced by the mainland is very uplifting for us Taiwan residents, especially for those in the tourism industry on the island, who are overjoyed," Wu Chia-ying, executive vice president of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, told the Global Times on Friday.

Wu said that as soon as the news came out, many travel agencies in Taiwan, such as South East Travel Service Co., Ltd., immediately posted online to recruit tour guides. "Over the past five years, due to the stagnation of Taiwan's tourism industry, many travel agencies have been shrinking. Now that they see new hope, they are quickly recruiting new employees to seize this hard-won opportunity."

Wu believes that the implementation by the mainland at this moment has a positive significance for cross-Straits exchanges. However, he hopes that the DPP authorities can recognize the goodwill from the mainland and acknowledge the needs and expectations for communication between compatriots on both sides of Taiwan Straits to restore normal exchanges of personnel and regular interactions in various fields.

Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" said that the "government" welcomes mainland tourists to visit Taiwan but the specific implementation details are still pending the mainland's announcement, according to media in the island. 

In response to questions on whether the relevant parties on both sides communicated through the "Association For Tourism Exchange Across The Taiwan Straits" and "Taiwan Strait Tourism Association" before the group tours resumption announcement and will they communicate in the future, and the current progress on the resumption of group tours to the island of Taiwan for residents of Fujian Province and Shanghai Municipality, Chen said on Friday that the preparations for resuming group tours for residents of Fujian and Shanghai to Taiwan island are actively underway. The crux of the issues and obstacles in cross-Straits tourism lies with the DPP authorities, not with whether the two associations mentioned above communicate.

Some DPP members on Friday continued their hyping of so-called "political intention" of the mainland's actions. For example, Chen E-Jun, a DPP member, claimed that the mainland's move is a typical example of "economic coercion for political leverage" - using a "carrot and stick" approach, applying pressure before offering rewards, according to reports from media outlet und.com.

The main goal of the DPP is to obstruct cross-Straits exchanges, including promoting economic decoupling between the two sides. They do not want close economic ties or overly active people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and the mainland. Currently, the DPP is in a dilemma: if they block exchanges too aggressively, they risk losing voter support, as cross-straits exchanges are widely desired by the public. As a result, their strategy is to shift the blame onto the mainland, Zheng Jian, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times.

Meanwhile, the mainland's policy of promoting peaceful reunification has remained consistent, continuously supporting cross-Straits exchanges across various areas, including tourism, trade, and legal matters. These initiatives are rooted in the interests of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, said Zheng.