Why are mainland residents’ individual travel to Taiwan suspended?

In response to the recent announcement on the official website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that the pilot program for mainland residents to travel to Taiwan for individual travel in 47 cities will be suspended starting from August 1, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, responded to inquiries today and said that mainland residents traveling to Taiwan for personal travel will be suspended. The tourism pilot project was launched in 2011. It is a positive measure to expand cross-Strait personnel exchanges and exchanges in the context of the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Over the years, mainland residents’ travel to Taiwan has played a positive role in promoting the development of Taiwan’s tourism and related industries.

The DPP authorities continue to promote "Taiwan independence" activities, continue to incite hostility towards the mainland, provoke cross-strait confrontation, and seriously undermine the foundation and conditions for mainland residents to travel to Taiwan for individual travel pilots. This is the main reason for suspending individual travel by mainland residents to Taiwan.

Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait hope that cross-Strait relations will return to the right track of peaceful development as soon as possible, and that mainland residents traveling to Taiwan can return to normal and healthy development as soon as possible.