Taiwan bars Chinese officials from Taipei Tourism Expo, citing security concerns amid rising cross-strait tensions

Taipei [Taiwan], June 16 : The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) defended its choice to prohibit Chinese officials and tourism representatives from participating in a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing unsafe conditions for Taiwanese individuals in China, according to a Taipei Times report.

The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organised by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is scheduled to take place from July 18 to 21. Zhu Fenglian, the spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, stated on Friday that representatives from China's travel industry were not invited to the expo, as reported by the Taipei Times.

She claimed that the Democratic Progressive Party government is hindering cross-strait tourism exchanges in a misguided effort to ignore the widespread support for peaceful development and collaboration. The MAC indicated that China's 22 guidelines targeting Taiwanese who oppose Beijing's attempts to seize control of the island render China an unsafe travel destination, as highlighted by the Taipei Times.

On June 21 of last year, Beijing introduced the 22 guidelines that empower its courts to prosecute "Taiwanese independence separatists" in their absence, with penalties that could include the death sentence. The MAC stated that it denied the expo organiser's request for participation by Chinese nationals due to a lack of demonstrated essential purpose or assurances that Taiwan would receive respect, as referenced in the Taipei Times report.

In February, the MAC urged Beijing to resume tourism discussions through appropriate avenues, but those appeals went unheeded. It urged China to take greater steps to promote positive exchanges between the two sides, as reported by Taipei Times.

The Chinese delegation included 300 officials, comprising deputy heads of major culture and tourism departments, according to an industry insider who spoke anonymously. The refusal of Taiwan to allow Chinese officials to attend an event as seemingly benign as a tourism expo indicates a decline in relations between the two sides, they noted, as quoted by the Taipei Times.

This expo, which first took place in 2018, has faced challenges in the past; however, previous issues have always been resolved, remarked Janice Lai, chairwoman of the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association. She noted that this year, Chinese officials were particularly eager to attend the expo and expressed that the exclusion of the Chinese delegation is a source of "deep regret and frustration" for the association, as indicated by the Taipei Times report.

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