A significant majority of ROC citizens support the central government’s policy of opening Taiwan to independent tourists from across the strait, according to a Mainland Affairs Council survey released April 12.
A total of 72 percent of the respondents said they favor the policy launched last June, while 68.2 percent said they believe the policy will benefit Taiwan’s economic development, the survey revealed.
As of the end of March this year, more than 58,000 independent travelers from mainland China had visited since the program kicked off, the MAC said.
Currently, only residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen are allowed to apply to travel on their own to Taiwan. Six more locations will be added from April 28, including Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Tianjin, with an additional four, namely Fuzhou, Jinan, Shenzhen and Xi-an, to be added later this year, according to the MAC.
Also on April 28, the daily limit on independent mainland tourist arrivals will be raised to 1,000 from the current 500, the council said.
Through to April 11, 72,878 mainland citizens had applied to visit under the program, for a daily average of 359, with the figure for March and the first part of April rising to more than 600, or in excess of the daily maximum, indicating growing interest in the program, according to the National Immigration Agency. (SB)
