Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The Tourism Bureau on Friday announced that the number of Chinese tourists allowed into Taiwan is to be increased from 5,000 to 8,000 before the end of February next year. The decision is certain to add to the deteriorating quality of tourism in Taiwan.

Taiwanese are a friendly people, so the more foreign visitors the better. The problem is that since Taiwan was opened up to Chinese tourism, the environment at Taiwan’s tourist spots has suffered from varying levels of destruction, causing the quality of tourism to drop and scaring away “good” tourists from many other countries, Japan in particular.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) US visit was a failure, because both Chu and the KMT are denying reality and have failed to keep up with changing times. The fact that this century-old party is out of touch with reality is related to its concern about its own benefits. In particular, it is paving the way for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to step down safely next year.