Limited Chinese Tourism Returning to Outlying Islands

TaiwanPlus News

China is starting to lift a ban on tourism to Taiwan's outlying islands, sparking calls for Taiwan to reciprocate by lifting its own ban on group tours to China.

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00:00For Taiwan's Matsu Islands, the arrival of these Chinese visitors is a breakthrough and

00:06a sign of hope for things to come. Between a souring of relations with Taiwan in 2019

00:12and Covid travel restrictions in 2020, Chinese tourists have been barred from travel to anywhere

00:18in Taiwan. But China is starting to lift this ban, first in the Matsu Islands and soon,

00:26it says, in the Jinmen Islands as well. Both are Taiwanese outposts much closer to the

00:32Chinese coast than to Taipei, and they are hungry for the return of the lucrative Chinese

00:37tourist market. While only residents of China's coastal Fujian province are allowed to visit

00:42for now, some politicians are happy with the development.

00:56Taiwan's travel industry hopes the government will make a goodwill gesture of its own. Earlier

01:00in the year, Taiwan banned group tours to China, part of a pattern of worsening ties.

01:06But Chinese destinations are popular, and travel agencies want the ban lifted. The government

01:18hasn't made any commitments, but says it too is happy to see at least limited tourism from

01:24China resume. Whether tourism between the two sides will reopen further, though, is unclear.

01:39China maintains its claims to Taiwan, and ties are as fraught as they have been in decades.

01:44But for the outlying islands at least, the prospect of Chinese tourists returning

01:48just in time for China's long national holiday in October is a welcome prospect.

01:54Luffy Lee, Jon Van Triest, Ed Moon for Taiwan Plus.

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