MAC Press Release No. 014
Regarding remarks by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) distorting facts about Taiwan's decision to suspend the resumption of tour group visits to mainland China, and the incident in Kinmen involving the mainland Chinese "three-noes vessel," the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (February 28, 2024) issued the solemn rebuttal as follows:
In terms of tour group visits to mainland China, Taiwan originally planned to announce specific details of resuming travel agency-organized tour group visits to mainland China before Lunar New Year this year (2024). However, at that point, mainland China had failed to make arrangements for mainland Chinese tour group visits to Taiwan, and even unilaterally announced changes to the operations of the M503 flight route and other routes. In light of the unfavorable overall situation to Taiwan's national interests, coupled with concerns regarding China’s Counter-Espionage Law increasing risks for Taiwanese travelers visiting mainland China with no effective mechanisms to resolve disputes, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was left with the decision to announce that the original plan would be difficult to implement for the time being. Taiwan has repeatedly expressed that it would not rule out appropriate adjustments regarding the resumption of travel agency-organized tour group visits to mainland China if the CCP authorities show goodwill and adopt approaches in line with parity and reciprocity. Therefore, the decision of when the two sides can resume two-way tourist group visits now depends entirely on whether the CCP sincerely wishes to promote such exchanges.
Secondly, since the start of the incident involving the "three-noes vessel from mainland China," our government has spared no effort to assist the victims' families and coordinated with relevant personnel on follow-up matters. However, the CCP has ignored the comprehensive active investigations by Taiwan's judiciary into the causes of the incident, and disregarded the sincere efforts of Taiwan's competent authorities to respond to the families and handle follow-up matters. Instead, the CCP has been slandering and smearing Taiwan for concealing facts, deflecting blame, and acting cold-bloodedly. The CCP’s accusations distort the facts, and are absolutely not the right way to resolve this unfortunate incident sincerely. We again urge mainland China to respect Taiwan's judicial system. It should patiently wait for Taiwan's prosecutors to complete their investigation and publish an objective and fair account of the incident. This is the only way the families will be provided with consolation soon.
The government's cross-Strait policy of promoting healthy and orderly exchanges across the Taiwan Strait remains unchanged. The MAC again calls on mainland China to cease negative actions towards Taiwan, engage in communication and dialogue with Taiwan without political preconditions, and handle cross-Strait issues pragmatically to jointly safeguard the interests and welfare of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.