Taipei [Taiwan], January 28 : Reports of Taiwanese citizens going missing, being detained or questioned, or facing restrictions on their personal freedom in China rose by nearly four times every year last year, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said, according to a report by the Taipei Times.
In the past year, 221 Taiwanese who travelled to China were reported as missing, detained and interrogated, or otherwise subjected to limits on their personal liberty, up from 55 cases the year before, the council said.
Reopening group tours to China would involve risks, as travellers would have no means to seek assistance through official channels after Beijing suspended dialogue between the organisations responsible for managing cross-strait tourism, the MAC said, as cited by the Taipei Times report.
Taipei's Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Beijing's Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait were created to facilitate coordination on tourism matters. In the past, Taiwanese in China who faced travel-related emergencies could reach out to the two associations for help, the MAC said, Taipei Times reported.
However, with communication between the two associations halted, Taiwanese in China no longer enjoy the same safety safeguards and are exposed to increased risks, it said. The associations should engage in discussions and work to restore cross-strait tourism communication mechanisms, as protecting the safety and interests of Taiwanese remains the top priority, it added.
The government has consistently shown goodwill toward China, but it would not trade away the rights and safety of Taiwanese, the MAC said, urging the travel sector and the public to back efforts to establish an improved framework for "cross-strait tourism 2.0."
Separately, Bureau of Consular Affairs Director-General Cheng Cheng-yung said travel advisory standards have been revised to consider whether countries have signed extradition or bilateral judicial assistance agreements with China, Taipei Times reported.
Before travelling overseas, Taiwanese should consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' travel advisory table on the bureau's website to evaluate the safety of their destination, Cheng said, according to the Taipei Times report.