Shanghai residents can finally travel to Kinmen and Matsu, whether individually or in groups. However, this timing is one year and seven months later than the opening for Fujian residents to visit Kinmen and Matsu. Due to obstruction by the DPP authorities, mainland Chinese citizens still cannot travel to Taiwan Island, including residents from Shanghai and Fujian.

Multiple media outlets reported that all 20 entry-exit service centers across Shanghai have officially launched application processing for tourism visas to Kinmen and Matsu, marking the full implementation phase of travel to these outlying islands for Shanghai residents. In fact, on April 29, the Shanghai Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau had already announced that Shanghai residents could sign up through qualified travel agencies. The first group of Shanghai tourists arrived in Kinmen on May 11, bringing long-awaited good news to Kinmen’s tourism industry. Meanwhile, Fujian residents resumed travel to Kinmen and Matsu starting September 2024.

This opening represents the latest development in the prolonged journey of cross-strait tourism exchanges. Looking back historically, mainland residents’ travel to Taiwan once experienced a period of vigorous growth: in July 2008, group tours were opened, ushering in a two-way travel era between the two sides; in June 2011, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen pioneered individual travel pilot programs, which were gradually expanded to more cities, reaching a peak in cross-strait tourism exchange. However, this positive momentum suffered severe setbacks after the DPP came to power. Following 2016, as the DPP authorities refused to acknowledge the "1992 Consensus," cross-strait relations deteriorated progressively. In August 2019, the mainland suspended individual travel pilot programs for residents of 47 cities; in early 2020, the DPP authorities further unilaterally banned all mainland travel to Taiwan under the pretext of the pandemic, effectively bringing mainland tourism to Taiwan to a near standstill. Even after the pandemic, despite repeated goodwill gestures from the mainland calling for the full restoration of direct flights and comprehensive tourism access, the DPP authorities have remained unwilling to open up, especially refusing to allow mainland tourists to visit Taiwan Island.

Faced with this recent opening by the mainland, the Taiwanese business sector expresses both hope and frustration. The DPP authorities, driven by political calculations—particularly in anticipation of the upcoming “Nine-in-One” local elections—continue to obstruct the comprehensive reopening of cross-strait tourism.

Why? The DPP seeks to shut the door completely to pursue “Taiwan independence,” isolating Taiwan’s people from exposure to the realities of mainland China’s progress and development. They do not want mainlanders to come over and hear stories about China’s advancements; nor do they want Taiwan residents to visit the mainland and see with their own eyes a reality vastly different from what the green camp portrays. When people from both sides engage in real exchanges, it breaks down the information bubbles and false narratives carefully constructed by the DPP, exposing the lies behind “Taiwan independence.”

The DPP authorities’ practice of placing political self-interest above the well-being of the people not only harms Taiwan’s tourism industry and related workers, but also deprives both sides of the right to normal interaction and communication.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865079569438723/

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