KMT Legislator Jonathan Lin (林沛祥) has called on the government to restore pre-pandemic flight routes with China to revitalize Taiwan’s tourism industry. Speaking at the Legislature’s transportation committee meeting, Lin highlighted that Taiwan welcomed a record 11.84 million tourists in 2019, with Chinese visitors accounting for 4.18 million.
Despite this year’s 10 million visitor target, numbers remain around 7.5 million. Lin questions why the government is overlooking the vast Chinese market of 1.4 billion people, instead focusing on regions like the EU, with a population of 450 million, and Southeast Asia, home to 600 million. He also questions subsidies of NT$5,000 (US$153) per Southeast Asian tourist to Taiwan, arguing that such incentives were not extended to Chinese visitors.
Lin also criticised the government for neglecting flight routes to major Chinese cities such as Jinan, Xi’an, and Tianjin, even as cross-strait passenger volumes have recovered to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) responded that restoring routes depends on demand from airlines, with approvals requiring assessments by national security agencies and the Mainland Affairs Council. However, Chen also reaffirmed Taiwan’s openness to welcoming more Chinese tourists.
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