Taiwan loses tourists from China due to political tensions

Hospitality representatives in Taiwan are prompting the first major tourism industry protest, as the relations with the Communist Party in Beijing are declining

Since China claimed sovereignty over Taiwan in 1949, officials in Beijing have never gave up the use of force so that the island remains under China’s direct rule. The investment of President Tsai Ing-wen in May has triggered even more deteriorating relations with the ruling Communist Party in Beijing, due to the fact that the new President experiences difficulties in maintaining stable connections between the two territories.

As a result, political tensions arise in Taiwan, drawing 15.000 people out in the streets. During the recent protests this week, the organizers have linked the decrease in Chinese tourist numbers with China’s inability to accept Taiwan’s independence and to acknowledge the “1992 consensus” that allows free interpretations of the syntagm “there is only one China”.

Ringo Lee, the spokesman of the Travel Agent Association commented: “We don’t want to get into the political issues, but we’re suffering and we’ll suffer even more in the next three to six months. The government has to help us through this tough time.”

“Taiwan and China have been on a cold war footing since May. There is no solution in sight. Neither side is willing to blink,” added the secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, Andrew Yang.

According to official data provided by the Government, Taiwan experienced a 15 per cent fall in tourists numbers year on year during the summer holidays. Despite the Government allocated $960 million in loans targeted to revive the tourism industry, the end of the political conflict between Taiwan and China is far from being over.