MAC Hesitant about Beijing's Goodwill Gestures
China Times, April 29, 2024
In the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent remarks that he "would like to see more mainland people visit Taiwan," mainland China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on April 28 that it would, Fujian residents, first resume tourism for to Taiwan’s outlying Matsu and conditionally restore group tours to Taiwan. On the same day, the mainland’s General Administration of Customs announced that it would approve the importation of Taiwanese pomelos and other agricultural and fishery products that meet mainland quarantine requirements. Regarding the partial opening of tourism, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that it is not in conformity with the principle of reciprocal opening, and the Council will make decisions after clarification.
After the resumption of the transport route from Pingtan to Taiwan, Fujian residents can tour Taiwan in groups
On April 28, 17 Kuomintang (KMT) legislators, led by Legislator Fu Kun-chi, convener of the KMT caucus of the Legislative Yuan, visited mainland China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and were received by Deputy Minister Rao Quan. Rao took the initiative to announce "important news": to further strengthen contacts and interactions between the tourism industries on both sides of the strait, the mainland will take the lead to resume tourism for Fujian residents to Matsu and then restore group tourism for Fujian residents to Taiwan after the resumption of sea routes transport service from Pingtan to Taiwan.
Rao further stated that the mainland also noted that since last year, Taiwan's tourism industry has been calling on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities to lift the "ban on tour groups" and restore normal cross-strait tourism exchanges. "The inability of people on both sides to travel freely and the failure to restore normal two-way exchanges have led to this predicament, for which the responsibility lies entirely with the DPP."
KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen said that Kinmen, also an outlying island, was not included in this opening because the incident of the "214 Kinmen ship collision" had not been resolved yet, and public sentiment of discontent in the mainland was still boiling. Therefore, the mainland can only lift the ban on traveling to Matsu first, and is not yet able to allow Fujian people to tour Kinmen.
Sea route transports between Pingtan and Taiwan had been suspended starting 2020 due to the pandemic. The freighter "Straits No. 1" resumed cross-strait shipping service in June last year. Regarding passenger ships, Wang Yanping, president of Fujian National Oceanic Shipping, revealed in August last year that he had applied for cross-strait passenger transport 11 times after the pandemic but all were rejected by Taiwan.
Regarding the mainland's goodwill gestures, the MAC did not fully appreciate them. A press release issued on April 28 stated, "the relevant arrangements neither conform to the principle of reciprocal opening nor represent the normalcy for tourism, and will be further straightened out by the MAC, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and other competent authorities before making a decision."
Fu Calls on Lai to Promote Comprehensive Cross-Strait Exchanges
According to Fu, President-elect William Lai has advocated that the DPP and the Communist Party should communicate and coordinate comprehensively. "Mr. Lai, please show your courage to countenance genuine and substantive peaceful development across the strait. If the small Pingtan testing direct passenger routes to Taiwan constitutes an insurmountable hurdle, it only shows the small-mindedness of the DPP." Fu expressed hopes that Taiwan would promptly lift the ban, allowing not only residents of Fujian Province but also residents from all over the mainland to visit Taiwan, so as to restore prosperity before 2016 and have 4 to 5 million mainland tourists visiting Taiwan each year, facilitating comprehensive exchanges between the two sides, which is the common expectation of all people.
On April 28, Fu and his delegation also visited the General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China. Deputy Director Zhao Zenglian stated that GAC was willing to strengthen communications with KMT and relevant parties in Taiwan regarding resuming the import of Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products such as pomelos to the mainland, based on the common political basis of adherence to the "1992 Consensus" and opposition to Taiwan independence. GAC would also encourage Taiwan's industry to strengthen source management and take practical and feasible corrective measures. The GAC will approve the import of Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products such as pomelos to the mainland based on scientific evaluations and in accordance with quarantine laws and requirements.
MAC Urges China Not to "Block First, Then Give Favor."
According to the MAC, agricultural product quarantine issues involve matters of government authority and technical specifications, and any practical solutions require communication between the competent authorities of both sides. It was urged that the mainland refrain from using economic and trade measures as tools of united front work and not to "block first, then give favor."
After a three-day intensive visit, Fu and his delegation returned to Taiwan on April 28. The KMT caucus of the Legislative Yuan stated that the good results of this visit once again proved that, whether official or private, "as long as there is rational communication and constructive dialogue, the beneficiaries are all the Taiwanese industries and the people."
DPP spokesman Justin Wu said that the DPP administration maintains goodwill towards the resumption of normal exchanges across the strait, and its position has not changed. The DPP hopes that the mainland would reduce political considerations, and pragmatically interact with Taiwan on an equal footing. On relevant matters of China's partial goodwill, he respected the evaluations of the competent authorities of the government.
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20240429000341-260108