Over a hundred Chinese tourists from Xiamen arrived on Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen island on Saturday, the biggest group to arrive since Taiwan and China imposed a mutual travel ban five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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00:00A long-awaited vacation.
00:02Over a hundred Chinese tourists from Xiamen
00:04arrived on Taiwan's outlying Jinmen Island on Saturday.
00:07It's the biggest group of tourists to arrive since Taiwan and China
00:11imposed a mutual travel ban five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:16Many of the visitors, families bringing their kids for the first time.
00:30Jinmen residents have been eagerly awaiting Chinese tourists
00:37who used to bring in around 200 million U.S. dollars a year to the local economy.
00:54Tour operators and local businesses in Jinmen and beyond
00:58suffered during the travel ban and are now cautiously optimistic
01:01that the reopening to Chinese tourism could mark a turning point.
01:28But the 100 Chinese tourists who just arrived is a tiny number
01:31compared to the 800,000 that used to visit Jinmen each year.
01:54As more Chinese tourists come,
01:56fostering people-to-people exchanges across the strait,
01:58Taiwan's government will have to figure out the best way to balance
02:01the country's economic needs and national security concerns.
02:05Patrick Chen and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.