The Taiwan Affairs Office responds to the call from the tourism industry in Taiwan for the authorities to lift restrictions on cross-strait exchanges.

On the morning of May 28th, the Taiwan Affairs Office held a routine press conference. Reporter: Since the administration of Lai Ching-te took office, they have used various means to obstruct and restrict cross-strait personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields. Currently, prices in Taiwan are rising and the cost of living is increasing. Tourism industry operators are calling on the Lai administration to consider less political factors and lift restrictions on cross-strait tourism as soon as possible. What is your comment on this? Spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Binhua: Since the administration of Lai Ching-te took office, they have deliberately obstructed personnel exchanges and tourism cooperation between the two sides, refused to lift the "ban on tour groups," raised the travel warning level for Taiwan residents traveling to mainland China to "orange," issued the so-called "2025 Mainland China Travel Safety Manual," hindered the full resumption of cross-strait passenger flights, used various excuses to resist and delay tours from Fujian and Shanghai residents to Taiwan, and even demanded that Taiwan tourism operators discourage Taiwanese people from traveling to the mainland. These actions have made the situation in the domestic tourism industry more challenging, and social grievances continue to accumulate. Only separated by a shallow strait, compatriots on both sides of the strait are one family. It is natural for people to want to visit and see where their compatriots live. This is not only beneficial for the development of cross-strait tourism industry, but also for the development of cross-strait relations. We have always upheld the concept of "one family on both sides," actively promoted the resumption of cross-strait tourism, and made positive efforts towards this goal. As long as the Democratic Progressive Party administration removes the various obstacles to personnel exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, cross-strait tourism can resume, people from both sides can travel frequently, and the tourism, accommodation, civil aviation, shipping industries, companies, and practitioners can benefit from it.