BEIJING (Reuters) – China has begun preparations to resume group travel to Taiwan for residents of Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Friday.
China and Taiwan have debated since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic over when and how tourism from China to the island could resume, with each side blaming the other for not yet fully returning, adding to existing tensions between the two sides .
At his New Year’s press conference, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said he welcomed exchanges with China but questioned whether there was goodwill in return from Beijing, given what he described as their blocking of simple things like tourism.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a brief statement that group tours will soon resume from Shanghai, as well as from Fujian province, which is across the Taiwan Strait from the island.
However, he did not specify the date of the resumption of the trip.
This was done to further promote the normalization of people-to-people exchanges and “enhance the interests and welfare of compatriots on both sides of the Straits,” the ministry said.
There was no immediate reaction from the Taiwanese government, which rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island.
Lai, whom Beijing calls a “separatist”, offered to negotiate with China but was rebuffed.
