A spokesperson for the Chinese mainland emphasized on Friday that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are fully responsible for the obstacles hindering cross-Strait travel.
Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, responded to accusations from the DPP authorities, who have blamed the mainland for travel obstructions across the Taiwan Strait.
Since 2020, the DPP authorities have banned residents of the Chinese mainland from visiting Taiwan and prohibited local travel agencies from organizing group tours to the mainland, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason.
To date, the DPP authorities continue to overlook appeals from the tourism industry and the Taiwan people to lift travel restrictions. They have even escalated alerts for Taiwan residents traveling to the mainland, Chen noted.
Chen reaffirmed that the mainland will take proactive measures to expand travel opportunities for its residents to Taiwan, provided that the DPP authorities cease obstructing cross-Strait exchanges.
Earlier this year, the mainland announced the resumption of travel for residents of Fujian Province to Kinmen and Mazu. As of October 31, mainland immigration authorities had processed 58,735 travel permit applications for travel to the two islands, according to the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.
Reference(s):
DPP authorities responsible for cross-Strait travel obstacles
cgtn.com
