MAC denies Shanghai delegation application to visit Taiwan

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) confirmed Friday it had denied a request made by the Taipei City government for a delegation of officials from Shanghai to visit Taiwan for the Taipei Lantern Festival.

The MAC said the application was rejected because, as well as the festival which is considered a cultural exchange, the group's itinerary involved tourism-related activities.

"Part of the trip involves tourism-related activities, and such matters should first be coordinated through 'the two cross-strait tourism associations' before an application is made [to the MAC] to enter Taiwan," the agency said.

The Taiwan Strait Tourism Association was established by Taipei and the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits by Beijing to coordinate cross-strait tourism.

The Taipei City government submitted a special request on Jan. 20 for a delegation from the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism to visit Taiwan from Feb. 11-14 to attend the Taipei Lantern Festival and other tourism events, the MAC said in a statement.

The MAC said that "following a comprehensive evaluation," the application was rejected.

This is the second rejection since the Lunar New Year for Chinese officials wishing to visit Taiwan during the festival, which runs from Feb. 2-16.

On Feb. 3, MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that a 13-member delegation of Shanghai Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) members, including its director Jin Mei (金梅), was denied entry to Taiwan because their application to the MAC was "submitted a bit late" and could not be processed in time.

It is unclear whether that delegation's itinerary included additional tourism activities.

Chiu, however, said that the application was mainly rejected because he believed the Shanghai TAO had deliberately worked to prevent Taiwanese business owners in Shanghai from visiting Taiwan for Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Lunar New Year activities. He said many individuals had traditionally returned for such events, but that numbers in recent years had dwindled.

The SEF is a semi-official organization that handles technical matters involving China on behalf of Taiwan's government, for example, documents relating to cross-strait marriages.

Later Friday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) expressed regret over the MAC's decision, saying it broke the long-standing tradition of a Shanghai delegation participating in the Taipei Lantern Festival.

He added that communication and exchanges are more crucial as cross-strait relations become increasingly tense.