By allowing Russian nationals to travel to the island without a visa, Taiwan is trying to improve its appeal to Russian tourists, who frequently visit neighboring Southeast Asian destinations, Taiwan's chief representative in Moscow told Sputnik on Thursday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2018) By allowing Russian nationals to travel to the island without a visa, Taiwan is trying to improve its appeal to Russian tourists, who frequently visit neighboring Southeast Asian destinations, Taiwan's chief representative in Moscow told Sputnik on Thursday.
Taiwan has decided to allow Russian citizens to visit the island without a visa for a period of up to 14 days, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement earlier in the day.
"A large number of Russian tourists travel overseas and many of them enjoy visiting Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand in Southeast Asia. With its beautiful scenery, rich culture and friendly people, I believe Taiwan will not lose to those countries. The new visa-free policy could allow Taiwan to compete with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries on a level playing field," Keng Chung Yung, head of the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission, said.
Russian citizens are currently allowed to travel to Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand without a visa.
The Taiwan official expects the new visa-free entry policy to boost the number of Russian visitors to the island and improve its trade relations with Russia by making it easier to arrange business trips.
According to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the trial period of this new policy will last from September 6, 2018 to July 31, 2019, adding that a possible extension of the new visa policy will be considered in accordance with the results.
Taiwanese authorities will require Russian citizens planning to take advantage of the new visa policy to have a Russian passport that is valid for over six months; return tickets or tickets to a third country; proof of no criminal record; and hotel booking information or information about local contacts in Taiwan.
After the Chinese Nationalist Party-led forces took over Taiwan in 1949, following their defeat in the Chinese civil war, the island continued to be self-governed with its independent visa system under the name of the Republic of China. The government of the People's Republic of China, led by the Communist Party of China, claims sovereignty over the island and has forced many countries to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan under its "One China" policy. Russia does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
