China will permit group tours from Shanghai and Fujian in Taiwan

China will permit group tours from Shanghai and Fujian in Taiwan

2025-01-17

Cross-strait tourism in Taiwan proper has been effectively banned since the COVID pandemic. However, on Friday there was an unexpected breakthrough. The PRC’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that it would permit group tours from Shanghai and Fujian Province. However, Taiwan’s long-suffering tourism industry worries that if the government does not lift its own ban on Chinese group tours, then this measure will not be of any help. The Mainland Affairs Council says that while the government welcomes the move, China has not announced any specific follow-up measures. It plans to wait for China to announce them, and then will try to communicate with Beijing. Let’s hear what everyone had to say.

At the Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum at the end of last year, Hua Yuan, a deputy mayor of Shanghai, said in a speech that his government would show goodwill and allow group tours from Shanghai to visit Taiwan.

Now, the PRC’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has officially announced that group tours from Shanghai and Fujian Province to Taiwan will resume, and that China is actively preparing for this. The PRC’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua said resuming group tours from Shanghai and Fujian is in line with Taiwan’s pursuit of peace, development, exchanges and cooperation. He called on Taiwan to lift a ban on group tours as soon as possible and promote exchanges upholding the spirit of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait being “one family.”

Chen Chien-chin
Tourism operator
They’ve already gotten the PRC’s Taiwan entry permits, so they are just waiting for us to authorize entry into Taiwan. What about the ban on group tours? When will you, the Mainland Affairs Council, lift it?

Ringo Lee
Travel Quality Assurance Association
Taiwan’s ban on group tours should be lifted soon, and the orange alert for China, should also be lowered. Taiwan’s response has been relatively benign, so there will certainly be opportunities this year.

In response, the Mainland Affairs Council said the government welcomes Chinese tourists to Taiwan, but it is still waiting for China to announce specific measures, before it communicates more with Beijing, and decides on procedures.

Chen Chien-chin
Tourism operator
Over the Lunar New Year, hotel booking rates in Hualien and Taitung will be only at 20% to 30%. During the nine-day holiday over the Lunar New Year, everyone’s going abroad. I believe that our performance in the hotels and lodging industry, including those related to tourism, will at least pick up to more than 50%.

Tourism operators hope that Taiwan’s hotel industry can return to its former glory as soon as possible, but they say it will all depend on the future talks between Taipei and Beijing.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

福建、上海恢復赴台團遊陸委會:歡迎中客來台

2025-01-17

兩岸觀光禁令，疫情之後遲遲未解除，去年年底上海市副市長財在致詞中說要開放上海團客來台，沒想到今天(17號)中國文旅部就宣布要開放福建、上海民眾團客赴台旅遊，不過各大旅遊業者就擔心，禁團令沒有解除也沒用，對此陸委會回應，政府歡迎中客來台灣，不過具體實施方式，還有待中方公布具體做法，再進行溝通。

去年底的雙城論壇，上海市副市長華源才在致詞中預告要釋出善意，恢復上海團客來台。

如今中國文旅部正式宣佈，將恢復福建、上海民眾組團來台旅遊，目前各項工作都在積極準備中。國台辦發言人陳斌華表示，恢復上海、福建團客赴台旅遊，是順應台灣要的和平、發展、交流、合作，喊話我國儘早解除禁團令，秉持兩岸一家親理念推動交流。

[[開南旅行社總經理陳健欽]]
“他們大通證都已經辦好了，那就是等我們台灣這邊發起入台證。我的禁團令呢，你哪時候，陸委會哪時候可以開放”

[[品保協會主委李奇嶽]]
“台灣這邊的禁團令趕快解除，對中國的橙色警戒，也能夠把它降下來。回應是比較良性的，(今年)那當然就有機會”

對此陸委會回應，政府歡迎中客來台，不過具體實施方式，還有待中國公布具體做法，再進行溝通。

[[開南旅行社總經理陳健欽]]
“過年期間花東的部分，只有兩成到三成的訂房率，那連假九天大家都跑出國，我相信我們這些旅宿業者，包括旅遊業，相信我們業績，至少會成長到五成以上”

旅遊業者期盼台灣旅宿業能盡快重返當年榮景，但還是要看中國如何對等善意。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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DPP decries ‘retaliatory’ budget cut proposals from opposition

The Legislative Yuan on Wednesday began negotiations over Taiwan’s national budget for 2025 that under an Executive Yuan plan stood at NT$32.74 trillion in total. Opposition lawmakers, who have a majority in the legislature, are proposing to slash it by more than NT$300 billion, or over 10%. The Executive Yuan on Thursday protested these proposals, saying the cuts could severely hamper the government’s operations. On Friday, the ruling DPP held a press conference, where they labeled the opposition’s proposals unreasonable and like “cultural martial law.” Let’s hear what everyone had to say.

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At this point, it’s a no-holds-barred political prosecution that in the end, sacrifices the rights of the people. The KMT and the TPP truly are sinister servants that harm their masters, the people.

DPP spokesperson Justin Wu decries several budget cuts proposed by opposition parties. Some of the proposals included eliminating the media budget for all ministries. The opposition also proposed cutting the operational budgets of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the National Communications Commission, and the Mainland Affairs Council to just NT$1, claiming the three ministries serve no function.

Cho Kuan-ting
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Cutting it all the way to just NT$1. There’s only one way to describe it: it’s what crybabies do. As long as they’re unsatisfied or unhappy, or their views differ from yours, it’s all down to zero.

For example, the Ministry of Culture has asked for NT$195 million for the Culture Points program, but the KMT wants to shave off NT$2 million from this and freeze a further NT$10 million. The reason they gave was that most of the Culture Points were spent in the bookstore and publishing industries, instead of reaching the objective of diversifying cultural activities. Additionally, funding for the Taiwan Public Service Foundation at NT$2.31billion should be slashed down to zero, KMT lawmakers said, citing various controversies, such as the TV drama “Three Tears in Borneo,” which the KMT perceives to lean too close to imperial Japan. The opposition also proposed slashing other various items across ministries to zero for a myriad of reasons.

Justin Wu
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Wang Hung-wei says she doubts whether the firefighting equipment can be used if a war were to break out, so that’s why she’s cutting it. I find this reason to be absolutely ridiculous. Lai Shyh-bao says he’s cutting regular administrative fees under the National Police Agency. He says the tasks can be done by the police officers themselves. So, Lai Shyh-bao, you won’t even let the officers off the hook. Are you asking them to do the cleaning?

Cho Kuan-ting
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Sometimes cuts are proposed because we just can’t stand the other. That’s all very normal. But you can’t make retaliatory and unreasonable cuts just because you’re unhappy. In that case, I think it’s the people that will be unhappy in the end.

The DPP decries the opposition’s budget cut proposals as revenge on the ruling party that will hamper the functioning of the country.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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First case of capital punishment during President Lai Ching-te’s term

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At 10:02 p.m. on Jan. 16, a gunshot pierced the quiet night sky over the Taipei Detention Center. Huang Lin-kai, a prisoner on death row, was officially executed.

Law enforcement officers burnt paper money, symbolizing that the execution was over. At 10:23 p.m., Huang Lin-kai’s body was sent to the New Taipei City Funeral Parlour.

On Oct. 1, 2013, Huang Lin-kai, who was a soldier at the time, had an argument with his girlfriend, and then nurtured a grudge. He sneaked into his girlfriend’s home and used a pioneering rope to strangle her mother to death. He then waited until 5p.m. when his girlfriend returned home, before he tied her hands together using the same rope and proceeded to rape her. After that, he strangled her the same way he had strangled her mother.

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The death row inmate surnamed Huang committed the most serious crime, so this ministry was extremely rigorous and prudent in carrying out the death penalty in accordance with the law to achieve justice.

Huang Lin-kai is not only the first death row inmate to be executed by firing squad after the Constitutional Court made a ruling last September that further limited the conditions under which the death penalty can be applied. He’s also the first case of capital punishment during President Lai Ching-te’s term.

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According to the ruling made by the Constitutional Court under the Judicial Yuan, the death penalty is constitutional and not unconstitutional. Therefore I very much hope that the public can support the Ministry of Justice administering this according to the law. At the same time, I would also like to express my condolences to the families of victims. After so many years, it’s been tough on everyone.

After a break of 1,751 days, a death row inmate has once again stepped into the firing line. The last time a prisoner on death row was executed was five years ago, when the Tsai Ing-wen government executed one Weng Jen-hsien, who killed six of his relatives in Taoyuan by setting fire to them. There are still 36 more prisoners on death row, awaiting execution.

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China reports that infections of flu-like human metapneumovirus - known as HMPV - are down in the northern part of the country. In recent weeks, reports of rising cases of the virus in the country where COVID-19 began sparked worries of another potential pandemic.

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Dr. Paul Auwaerter
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Taiwanese breakfast culture prepares to go global

One of Taiwan’s best kept secrets is its breakfast culture. People go out for breakfast more often than for any other meal of the day! There are lots of morning options available in cities, and there are fierce north-south divides over the menu too. One owner of a chain of successful breakfast eateries has opened up about his ambition to take the Taiwanese breakfast global. He grew up in a breakfast diner family in Pingtung, before carving out a niche in Taipei. This undiscovered gem of Taiwanese life is ready for the global stage, he says.

Egg pancake, turnip cake, pan-fried noodles. Or perhaps a shaobing with a fried dough stick and a soy milk. Life’s good in Taiwan. There’s a dizzying array of choices for the very first meal of the day.

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In the north, it might be a Chinese-style breakfast: soy milk, shaobing with a fried dough stick. But in the south, you might get noodles as well.

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In Taichung, you have thick noodle soup, fried noodles. And even more in Pingtung. There you get all the soup dishes.

Hailing from Pingtung, Chang Wen-cheh grew up in a family that ran a breakfast restaurant. After graduating from college, he became a tour guide, and could show international tourists the “Taiwanese breakfast culture” that made him so proud. Then he went to work in Australia, made his fortune, and came straight back to Taiwan to open the breakfast restaurant of his dreams.

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I’d hear the numbers of customers being shouted out, or “Mr. Lin, Mr Lin!... Sir! Madam!” That’s my favorite. So I create that feeling in my own restaurant. We want to be the “king” of breakfasts in Taipei. We don’t just sell breakfast. We’re showing you Taipei culture.

The eatery has found a solid place in the market after nine years in business. Chang says his business philosophy is modelled after the kendo practice he has maintained since childhood.

Chang Wen-cheh
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We aim to follow the kendo concept of “shuhari:” Preserve the classics, break with tradition and transcend something new.

This Pingtung kid has made a splash in the capital, winning a slice of the NT$200 billion annual breakfast-brunch market. But Chang’s ambitions extend even further. Next he wants to take Taiwan’s proud breakfast culture global.

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