Zhu Fenglian Photo: Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council

A spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office on Thursday slammed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan region for unilaterally setting prior consultation via tourism-related cross-Straits exchanges as a precondition and rejected applications by mainland tourism industry practitioners to conduct inspection tours, calling the move political manipulation and deliberate obstruction. 

Zhu Fenglian, the spokesperson, made the remarks in response to a media question on the DPP authorities' decision to deny applications from tourism operators in Shanghai and Fujian who are seeking to conduct tourism and hospitality inspection tours in Taiwan. 

The DDP's decision has drawn opposition from tourism associations and industry representatives on the island, who urged the DPP authorities to reduce political interference, allow tourism to move first, and preserve space to ease cross-Straits relations.

Asked to comment on that, Zhu said that promoting the resumption of travel to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian is a positive step that responds to mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and helps advance the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Inspection tours, also known as familiarization trips, are a routine practice in the tourism industry designed to coordinate arrangements for accommodation, catering, scenic sites and reception services with operators on the ground. They are purely people-to-people and business exchanges, the spokesperson said.

Calls from the tourism sector to reduce political manipulation and prioritize tourism exchanges reflect widespread dissatisfaction with the DPP authorities' politicization of cross-Straits tourism, their disregard for the operational difficulties facing local tourism businesses, and their neglect of residents' livelihood concerns, Zhu said.

"We have always upheld the belief that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are of one family in promoting the resumption of travel to Taiwan by mainland residents, and continuing to demonstrate goodwill," Zhu said. "If the DPP authorities truly care about the livelihoods of the tourism industry, they should lift the restrictions on mainland residents traveling to Taiwan as soon as possible."