More mainland ports to offer entry permits on arrival to Taiwan residents

The mainland authorities are working to expand the list of ports currently offering single-entry travel permits on arrival to Taiwan residents, with the aim of making their visits more convenient and secure in the future, a Chinese mainland spokesperson announced on Wednesday.

Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said that relevant departments are working in tandem to add more ports to the list and extend the service across the mainland, which will help facilitate cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation and promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-Strait relations.

At present, Taiwan residents can apply for single-entry travel permits to the mainland at the immigration offices of 46 city ports, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen and Fuzhou in Fujian province.

Chen said they will soon be able to apply for the permit on arrival at more designated ports, regardless of whether they are traveling to the mainland directly from Taiwan, or transiting through the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions or foreign countries.

Further details of the policy and the expanded list of ports will be released by relevant departments in due course, he added.

Although the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have yet to lift the ban on group tours to the mainland and an alert for Taiwan travelers remains in place, the mainland experienced a surge in visitors from Taiwan during the recent holiday period.

During the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival break, the Mini Three Links between the mainland and Taiwan, which refers to small-scale trade, shipping and postal services between Fujian and the islands of Jinmen and Matsu, deployed a total of 17 vessels, providing 38 sailing trips and 9,228 passenger seats on average per day, according to Chen.

From Oct 1 to 8, these routes operated a total of 296 sailing trips, carrying more than 49,000 passengers, up 193.2 percent year-on-year. "The passenger volumes on the Fuzhou and Xiamen routes both hit record highs since the services were launched," the spokesman said.

Chen emphasized that the desire for peace, development, exchanges and cooperation across the Strait represents the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan.

Polls conducted by Taiwan media agency United Daily News show that dissatisfaction with Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's handling of cross-Strait relations rose sharply to 63 percent this year from 43 percent last year, while his approval rating plummeted to 26 percent from 44 percent.

Also, 88 percent of the respondents this year said they believe that cross-Strait communication must be maintained.

"Lai has intensified efforts to obstruct and restrict cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, forcibly pushed for economic 'decoupling and severing of supply chains', and heightened confrontation across the Strait, leading to tension and instability in the Strait," Chen said, adding that the polls indicate Lai's actions run counter to public opinion.

Condemning Lai's stubborn "Taiwan independence" separatism stance, the spokesman said that Lai has continuously exaggerated the so-called "mainland threat" and attempted to pursue independence through military means or by relying on external forces.

His actions will only push Taiwan into a more perilous situation of military tension and conflict, Chen added.