A small tour group from mainland China embarked on a three-day trip to a Taiwan-governed archipelago on Friday, marking the first group tour to visit the islands since Beijing loosened travel restrictions following the Covid-19 pandemic. The seven-member tour group departed from a pier in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, and arrived in the Matsu Islands. They will spend three days exploring tourist attractions including the Giant Matsu Statue, the Matsu Liquor Factory Industry Co, Qinbi Village, and the Beihai Tunnel, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
The mainland visitors are employed in industries such as trade and tourism, and they are hoping to explore business opportunities across the Taiwan Strait in addition to sightseeing, according to the news agency. This trip was made possible by Beijing’s announcement in April that residents of Fujian, the coastal province that sits opposite the strait from Taiwan, would be the first from the mainland to be permitted to visit the Matsu Islands.
Rao Quan, mainland China’s vice-minister of culture and tourism, stated in April that group travel for Fujian residents to Taiwan would resume once direct maritime passenger services from Fujian’s Pingtan county were restored. In late June, a group of 22 people from Fuzhou embarked on a tourism inspection tour to Matsu, according to the mainland’s China News Service.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Mainland travelers were once the top contributors to tourism in Taiwan, but travel restrictions imposed by both sides have led to a sharp decline in tourist visits in recent years. The mainland suspended individual travel to Taiwan in August 2019, citing the tense state of cross-strait relations. This was followed by both sides halting group travel in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2020 suspension also included the “mini-three links” – a policy that allows direct trade, transport, and postal connections between Taiwan’s offshore islets of Matsu and Quemoy, also called Kinmen, and the mainland cities of Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou. The mini-three links resumed in early 2023 after both sides lifted Covid-19 controls, allowing Taiwanese residents, their mainland spouses and children, and mainland Chinese students studying in Taiwan to use ferry services.
Taiwanese authorities pushed to resume tourism exchanges, but said in February that Beijing had been unwilling to reciprocate by allowing mainland group tours to visit Taiwan. In response, Taiwan prohibited tour groups from the island from visiting mainland China, reversing its previous plan to allow local agencies to organize tour groups to the mainland after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Taiwanese travelers may visit mainland China as individual tourists, but Taipei authorities have issued travel alerts for the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau over safety concerns. In a notable exception to the travel restrictions, mainland tourists living in a third country or region have been permitted to visit Taiwan under a policy that went into effect in September of last year.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council told Central News Agency that it was pleased to see the tour group’s arrival to Matsu and welcomed more mainland travelers to visit Matsu and Quemoy. The resumption of group tours from mainland China to Taiwan signifies a positive step towards fostering cross-strait relations and promoting tourism between the two regions.
