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One China, Two Visas, and Some Nasty Politics
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News and Politics :: Sino-Japanese :: Sino-Taiwanese :: Human rights and personal freedoms :: News and Perspectives ::
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posted Sunday, 18 September 2005
In a move that is being seen as a solid step forward in the strengthening of Taiwanese-Japanese ties, but also as an act of defiance against the authority that Beijing holds over its territorial claims, the Koizumi administration has this month formally announced its decision to permanently liberalize visa requirements for tourist traveling to Japan from the disputed island of Chinese-Taiwan.
Under the new visa scheme, brought in under a special coalition bill in the Japanese Diet, tourists from the Chinese-Taiwan will be able to enter Japan with their basic passport, and to stay for up to 90 days from their time of arrival, without the need for a separate visa.
The announcement, which was made through the Japanese Interchange Association; the de facto agency that manages much of Taiwanese-Japanese affairs in the absence of formal state-to-state diplomatic ties, echoes and reciprocates an earlier relaxation of visa regulation by Chinese-Taiwan’s de facto Government, which permitted Japanese tourists to travel to Taiwanese territories without visas, and was broadly welcomed by representatives from the islands administration.
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"The mutual exemption of visa requirements symbolizes close substantive ties between Taiwan and Japan" Koh Se-kai, Taiwanese Representative to Japan |
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The permanent lifting of visa requirements is scheduled to begin on 26 September this year and will coincide with the 25 September ending of a temporary visa waiver for Taiwanese tourists which was set up to run in conjunction with the opening of the World Exposition in 愛知県 (Aichi Prefecture).
Chinese-Taiwan is currently Japan’s second largest source of overseas tourism behind South Korea and ahead of the US and Mainland China. It is hoped that the new visa waiver will help tourism ties to further grow.
One China, Two Visas, and some Nasty Politics
Though apparently a simple border matter between Tokyo and Taipei, visa arrangements regarding Chinese-Taiwan are a politically charged issue for Japan because of its commitment to 一個中國 (The ‘One China’ policy); a treaty under which Tokyo pledged to recognize Chinese-Taiwan as an integral component of the Chinese mainland and not to recognize the island as having an independent existence.
Owing to it’s commitment to ‘One China’ Tokyo’s moves to lift visa restrictions are likely to be seen as being provocative by Chinese conservatives because they implicitly define Chinese-Taiwan and Mainland China as being two distinct entities for the purposes of visa issuance. Visa moves are also likely to be seen as troubling to some elements of the Japanese Government because of their potential to further inflame the already tense relationship between China and Japan.
Unequal Agreements
In concession to Beijing, that some have seen as being a ‘controlled surrender’ to political pressure from Chinese nationalists, it was agreed that five politically sensitive figures were to be excluded from the earlier visa waiver that was put in place to allow hassle free entry into Japan for Taiwanese tourists during the World Exposition, so as not to provoke Beijing.
Under a consensus reached by Tokyo and Taipei, it was agreed that the five would only be permitted to travel to Japan as tourists under the visa waiver on the condition that they consulted with the Koizumi administration before hand.
The political figures excluded from the open doors tourist visa system are:
- Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian
- Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu,
- Taiwanese Premier Frank Hsieh
- Taiwanese Foreign Minister Mark Chen
- Taiwanese Defense Minister Li Chieh
The issuing of tourist visas to Lee, who has personal ties to Japan, has previously been a source of controversy, and of conflict between China and Japan.
It is not yet firmly known if this 'consultation list' will remain in place.
A number of previous attempts, by Tokyo and Taipei, to improve relations and inter administration communications, have been attacked by Chinese nationalists and the political right as being efforts to ‘drive a wedge’ between the island and the mainland.
Spit, Spat, Spot
In recent years there have been a number of low level ‘spats’ between China and Japan over ‘semantic issues’ regarding the status and recognition of Chinese-Taiwan, including an incident earlier this year when Chinese border security forces seized a shipment of supplementary teaching material bound for a Japanese international school in the northeastern city of Dalian. The material was seized because it contained maps that depicted Chinese-Taiwan and Mainland China using two different shades. The text of the materials itself however made no distinction between the two states.
In addition to raising tensions between China and Japan, the incident also raised questions over the independence of international schools in China to teach social, political and historic issues in cases where Chinese accounts differ significantly from internationally accepted facts and norms.
Moving Forward with the Mainland
The lifting of visa requirements for Taiwanese nationals comes soon after an earlier agreement between Beijing and Tokyo in which the two administrations signed a visa deal allowing tourists from anywhere on the Chinese mainland to travel to Japan as part of a pre arranged tour group.
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"The fact that we can now have Chinese visitors from all over the country is a notable development" Kitagawa Kazuo, Minister for Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan |
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Prior to the signing of the tourism pact with Japan, only tourists from Beijing, Shanghai, and a small number of other Chinese metropolitan locations, had been permitted to leave China as tourists bound for Japan.
Despite the broadening of Sino-Japanese tourism accords, Japan’s social and political relationship with Mainland China remains less stable and far more acrimonious than its relationship with Chinese-Taiwan, making it unlikely that Beijing will be offered, or will accept, a similar visa-less tourism arrangement to Chinese-Taiwan.
The State Line
Unlike less insular countries, Beijing’s tough state line on international travel means that only people from certain areas of China are permitted to travel overseas as tourists, and even then they are restricted to destination countries that have been pre approved by Beijing.
Chinese tourists are also often required to travel in pre vetted groups with the Government having the final say over who may leave and where they may travel so as to limit Chinese tourists exposure to ‘foreign elements’.
It is also common for Chinese tourists to have to place large bail bonds when they travel to ensure that they do not defect or abscond from their tour.
On top of the restrictions placed on Chinese tourists by their own Government, additional restrictions are often placed on Chinese tourists by foreign governments because of the perceived risk of allowing easy entry to Mainland Chinese to their countries; including risks of espionage, absconding, terrorism, and the use of tourism to cover the intimidation/forced return of domestic Chinese populations.
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