Tourists Join Taiwan-China Thaw

大陸遊客感受兩岸關係緩和
英 | 大 | 中 | 小
2008年07月28日14:08
今
夏的大陸赴台旅游團促使大陸和台灣方面均表現出克制﹐雙方政府均作出努力以減少出現尷尬場面。

在一個台灣小鎮﹐當地官員摘下了一個寫有反北京內容的標牌。台灣官員仔細巡查帶有台灣總統稱呼的東西﹐以避免讓大陸遊客產生台灣認為自己是獨立的想法。

而對來訪的遊客們而言﹐大陸先前已經告訴他們要衣著得體、舉止文明。與此同時﹐它還要求台灣方面不要將與蔣介石有關的區域作為旅遊目的地。

之所以有如此考慮﹐是考慮不損害剛剛解凍的兩岸關係。今年在台灣大選中獲勝的新總統馬英九致力於改善兩岸關係﹐促成了雙方九年來的首次正式會談。

旅行限制的放鬆便是上述會談的一大成果。根據雙方6月份達成的協議﹐每天赴台的大陸遊客人數最多將達到三千人﹐按照這一數字﹐赴台旅遊的大陸遊客數量每年可能達到一百萬左右。不過﹐在實際允許的赴台旅遊人數上還存在一些爭論。以往﹐大陸遊客只能通過在泰國、香港等地中轉後前往台灣。根據台灣官方數據﹐過去六年中來訪的大陸遊客人數只有約29.3萬。而多年來中國大陸已經接待了大批台灣遊客。

大陸方面的舉動從某些方面看是想通過提振島內旅游業來贏得台灣民心。台灣政府估計﹐放鬆旅行限制將為島內旅游業帶來25-32億美元的年收入。而5月份就任總統的馬英九估測﹐這一變化將創造4萬個新工作崗位。

這種新機制給大陸和台灣雙方都提出了一項棘手的任務﹕如何確保赴台旅遊的一帆風順﹖

新機制下的首批旅行團包括廣東省的66名遊客﹐他們7月4日抵達台灣後在當地停留了十天。這批遊客所在團隊多數時間的行程受到了嚴密控制。台灣官員還要求發放給大陸遊客的宣傳冊使用簡體字印刷。此外﹐他們對示威活動採取了限制措施。

一個小鎮的官員們摘除了法輪功樹立的標牌﹐上面是為一本指責中國共產黨侵犯人權的法輪功書刊做宣傳。當地官員說﹐他們之所以摘除這塊標牌是因為它屬於違章建築﹐而不是因其內容違法。法輪功組織的一名發言人稱﹐此舉是一種自我審查行為﹐是民主的倒退。

不過遊客們依然遭遇了尷尬。為了避免“台獨”意味﹐台灣官員在大陸遊客面前言辭謹慎地將馬英九稱為“馬英九先生”而不是“馬英九總統”。可是在大陸遊客抵台後收到的禮物中﹐卻有一組印有馬英九畫像的郵票。當地有記者詢問一位拿到禮物的大陸遊客是否知道馬英九的頭銜﹐這名遊客拒絕回答。

其他可能引起不快的時刻則平靜地過去。此次旅行的其中一站是台灣故宮﹐這裡陳列著國民黨在1949年逃離大陸時帶走的許多工藝品。有些大陸居民希望讓這些國寶回歸﹐而四十歲的蘇州教師鐘玉琴（音）卻認為這個問題並不重要。她說﹐這不是什麼問題﹐這裡也是祖國的一部分。

在首批赴台的大陸遊客中﹐許多人都談到這片島嶼對他們來說有似曾相識的感覺﹐因為多年來他們已經對這裡的習俗、食物、風景甚至是政治耳濡目染。來自北京的退休研究員、71歲的白成瑞（音）說﹐能來台灣他感到很幸運﹐自己看到了許多以前在電視里看到的畫面。

還有一個引人入勝之處﹕台灣的電視節目。裡面有許多批評台灣總統和政府高官的節目。台灣導游介紹說﹐有些大陸遊客建議他們的同伴晚上在賓館里看看電視。

Ting-I Tsai

Tourists Join Taiwan-China Thaw
漢 | 大 | 中 | 小
2008年07月28日14:08
A wave of mainland Chinese tourists here this summer has China and Taiwan on their best behavior, as de facto ambassadors on both sides take pains to minimize awkward moments.

In one Taiwanese town, local officials took down an anti-Beijing billboard. Officials here are stepping carefully around the title of Taiwan's president to avoid reminding the tourists that the island considers itself independent of China.

For its part, China has told tourists to dress nicely and be civil. At the same time, it has asked that locations related to late anticommunist leader Chiang Kai-shek be kept off a list of tour sites.

At stake is a recent thaw in relations between China and the island it has long considered a breakaway province. Taiwan's elections this year swept in a new president keen to improve relations with Beijing, leading to the first formal talks in nine years between the two sides.

Easing tourist restrictions was one major result. The two governments in June agreed to allow as many as 3,000 tourists from China into Taiwan daily, a pace with the potential to lead to roughly one million mainland visitors a year -- though there is some disagreement about how many tourists are actually being allowed. Previously, Chinese tourists could come to the island only indirectly, via stops in places like Thailand or Hong Kong. Only about 293,000 have visited in the past six years, according to Taiwanese government figures. Taiwanese tourists have been visiting China in droves for many years.

China's move is partly an attempt to win points with Taiwanese by boosting the island's tourism industry. The change could create US$2.5 billion to US$3.2 billion in annual tourism revenue, the Taiwanese government estimates. President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May, suggests 40,000 new jobs would be created.

The new system presents both China and Taiwan with a tricky task: Ensuring smooth visits.

The first group under the system, composed of 66 tourists from the mainland province of Guangdong, arrived on July 4 for a 10-day stay. The tourists were kept in a group on a tightly controlled itinerary for most of the day. Taiwanese officials made sure the brochures printed for the tourists were in the simplified Chinese script adopted by China in the past few decades but scorned by Taiwan, which continues to use traditional Chinese. Authorities also discouraged demonstrations.

Officials of one town took down a billboard erected by the Falun Gong, a spiritual group critical of and banned by Beijing. The billboard touted a Falun Gong book that criticized China's Communist Party for human-rights violations. Local officials said they removed the billboard because it was constructed illegally, not because of its content. A Falun Gong spokeswoman said, 'The move is about self-censorship, and it is a setback for democracy.'

The tourists still faced awkward moments. Taiwanese officials were careful to refer to the island's leader in front of the tourists as 'Mr. Ma' rather than 'President Ma' to avoid bringing up Taiwan's independence. But among the gifts presented to the tourists upon their arrival was a set of stamps bearing Mr. Ma's likeness. Local reporters asked a mainland tourist who received the set whether she knew his title. She declined to answer.

Other potentially red-faced moments passed smoothly. One stop on the first tour was the National Palace Museum, home to a number of Chinese artifacts the Nationalists brought with them when they fled China in 1949. Some in China have pushed for their return. Zhong Yuchin, a 40-year-old teacher from the mainland city of Suzhou, said the issue isn't an important one. 'This shouldn't be a problem. Here is part of the motherland, too,' she said.

Most Chinese tourists in the first group emphasized the island's familiarity, as they have heard of the customs, food, vistas and even politics of Taiwan for years. 'I feel so lucky to visit the island,' said Bai Chengruei, a 71-year-old retired researcher from Beijing. 'I have seen so many scenes I have learned from TV.'

Another big draw: Taiwanese television. The nation's broadcasters carry a number of shows that criticize Taiwan's president and senior officials. Some guests told others to stay in hotels to watch TV in the evenings, according to their Taiwanese tour guides.