The Free and Independent Travel Policy: It's Working

The Free and Independent Travel Policy: It's Working
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
June 28, 2011

The Free and Independent Travel Policy is now in effect. The first batch of 273 tourists from the Chinese mainland will arrive on Taiwan today. Many people regard this as a business opportunity, But even more importantly, the Free and Independent Travel Policy for tourists from the Chinese mainland will enable the establishment of direct dialogue between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It will provide them with an opportunity to communicate, and also an opportunity to establish cross-Strait peace.

Authorities on the two sides have a tacit understanding. The Free and Independent Travel Policy will initially be limited to 500 visitors a day. This is not spelled out explicitly in the provisions. Therefore it can be readily increased in the future. Based on 500 visitors a day, and a stay lasting 15 days, on any given day 7,500 visitors from the Chinese mainland will be traveling around on Taiwan under the Free and Independent Travel Policy. If the quota is increased to 1000 visitors a day, on any given day 15,000 visitors from the Chinese mainland will be traveling about on Taiwan under the Free and Independent Travel Policy. Add 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day traveling around on Taiwan with tour groups, which stay on Taiwan seven to ten days. That means on any given day 40,000 to 50,000 tourists from the Chinese mainland are on visiting Taiwan. Over 36 million tourists from the Chinese mainland visited Hong Kong last year. Among these, 14.2 million visited under the aegis of the Free and Independent Travel Policy. Altogether, they spent around 750 billion NT. That means Taipei's Mainland tourist market has plenty of room for growth.

This is indeed a huge business opportunity, But the significance of tourists from the Chinese mainland, especially those traveling under the aegis of the Free and Independent Travel Policy, is not primarily business related. Rather, it is an opportunity for people to dialogue with each other. Consider the business opportunities. Everyone from the central government to local governments, is eager for visitors from the Chinese mainland. Even Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-teh (DPP) complains about the lack of direct flights between Tainan and the Chinese mainland. The world's largest Dior flagship store will soon open in the Taipei 101 Building. EVA Air will soon invest 100 billion NT on 20 to 25 new airliners, to accomodate tourists from the Chinese mainland who wish to visit Taiwan. Even the 7-ELEVEN chain is preparing 60,000 "Free and Independent Travel Policy Gift Packages." These are all opportunities created by the Free and Independent Travel Policy. But the significance of the Free and Independent Travel Policy is hardly limited to cross-Strait business opportunities. If we look at the Free and Independent Travel Policy from the economic side alone, we are being far too myopic.

What have visitors from the Chinese mainland experienced? What insights have they gained? Taiwan has picturesque scenery. But so does the Chinese mainland. The Chinese mainland has second-tier cities that surpass Taipei and Kaohsiung economically. Tourists from the Chinese mainland come not to marvel at the scenery. They come not in pursuit of fashion. They come mainly because Taiwan and the Chinese mainland share the same history and cultural heritage. Today, the two sides are engaged in subtle political and economic coopetition. The most important experiences and insights tourists from the Chinese mainland have gained concern the contemplation of history and the exploration of culture. Pineapple cakes and oyster omelets fascinate tourists from the Chinese mainland not necessarily because they like the taste, but because they represent Taiwan. When tourists from the Chinese mainland digest their food, they are digesting 60 plus years of shared history, and of love and hate.

Most visitors from the Chinese mainland are private citizens. When they experience real life on Taiwan under the "Free and Independent Travel Policy" they are able to each people on Taiwan as human beings, heart to heart. They are able temporarily to escape official influence. They are no longer bound by travel agencies. They are engaged in "Free and Independent Travel." These few days may be the freest they have experienced their entire life. Today's Taiwan may or may not be different from, or better than the Chinese mainland. But if it is, it will not be a result of its scenery or its high-rise towers. It will not be a result of its oyster omelets or pineapple cakes. It will be a result of its Free and Independent Travel Policy, which enables visitors from the Chinese mainland to experience something unprecedented in 5000 years of Chinese history: democracy and freedom.

In a well known TV commercial, a tourist from the Chinese mainland says, "This we have on the Mainland. But this we do not." The Chinese mainland is a society that has everything. The only thing it doesn't have is democracy and freedom. For example, tourists from the Chinese mainland love to watch the 8pm evening political call in shows. That is something Taiwan has that the Chinese mainland does not. It is rumored that most visitors from the Chinese mainland feel that democracy on Taiwan is "compelling." But few believe that democracy and freedom can work on the Chinese mainland. But the most important experience and insight Taiwan can leave visitors, is the conviction that the quality and nature of democracy and freedom on Taiwan are such that they would work on the Chinese mainland.

Tourists from the Chinese mainland are passionate. They are easily moved. Many tourists from the Chinese mainland have the highest praise for bus passengers who give up their seats to the infirm, and escalator users who stand on the right. When businesses wait for tourists from the Chinese mainland to pay their bills, everyone on Taiwan should arrive at a tacit understanding. Why not greet tourists from the Chinese mainland with a free and democratic society? That way, when they leave Taiwan, what they will remember the most clearly will not be oyster omlets or pineapple cake, but democracy and freedom.

Do not fail the people who have made human contact. Do not betray the hearts and minds of the people as they dialogue with each other. Tourists from the Chinese mainland may take home with them pineapple cakes. These will last a few days at most. But if they come to respect and cherish freedom and democracy on Taiwan, that will be more important to cross-Strait peace than any business opportunities,

自由，真行！
【聯合報╱社論】 2011.06.28

陸客來台自由行首發二七三位旅客今日到訪。許多人視此為商業機會，但更重要的是，陸客自由行開創了兩岸人民直接對話交流的機會，為兩岸和平增添契機。

依兩岸主管機關的默契，自由行初期開放每日五百人，但未載於明文規定，以便未來放寬加碼。以每日五百人計，十五天的停留期首尾相加，同日即有七千五百陸客在台自由行；若加至每日一千人，同日即有一萬五千的自由行陸客。倘再加上每日四、五千人團進團出、行程七至十天的「團客」，則同日即有四、五萬陸客在台旅遊。而若以香港去年陸客逾三千六百萬人次，其中自由行一千四百二十萬人次，總消費額達七千五百億台幣計，台灣的「陸客市場」仍大有發展空間。

這確實是龐大的商機，但陸客來台，尤其是自由行，最重大的意義尚不在商機，而在「人民對話」的契機。就商機言，從中央政府到地方政府皆在迎接陸客，連台南市長賴清德也抱怨為何沒有班機；全球最大的Dior旗艦店將在一○一大樓開張，長榮航空為因應大陸市場將以千億資金添購廿至廿五架新客機，連7-ELEVEN也準備六萬份「自由行大禮包」……。這些皆是從商機看陸客自由行，但自由行對兩岸的意義絕不僅是商機而已；如果僅從經濟面看陸客自由行，視域未免太狹隘了。

陸客來台能有何感受與領悟？台灣山水的奇與秀，大陸也有；大陸二線城市的市容市況，亦有超越台北及高雄者。陸客未必是為奇山秀水而來，也未必是為追慕新潮時尚而來。主要原因是在於，台灣和大陸有歷史與人文的關聯，如今又處於政治、經濟的微妙競合關係。陸客來台，最重要的感受與領悟，應在歷史的思考與人文的探索；正如鳳梨酥、蚵仔煎，它的「台味」恐比「美味」對陸客更具魅力，使陸客在咀嚼食物時，同時也咀嚼著兩岸六十餘年來百味雜陳的是非恩怨。

由於來客主要是大陸平民，在進入真正的台灣民間社會「自由行」之時，可以用「民心」來對比「民心」，用「民意」來對比「民意」；他們暫時脫離了官方影響，也不必被旅行社拘束。在自由行的數日中，可能是這位陸客此生在兩岸思考上最「自由」的幾天，而台灣今日真正能異於中國大陸、優於中國大陸者，其實不在奇山秀水、高樓華廈，亦不在蚵仔煎、鳳梨酥，而是在向自由行的陸客展現中國五千年來前所未見的景象：民主與自由！

套一句廣告中陸客的台詞：「這個我們大陸也有，但這個我們沒有。」大陸已是什麼都有的社會，唯一沒有的就是民主與自由。例如，陸客來台在晚上八點爭看的政論叩應節目，才是台灣有、而大陸沒有的景觀。據說，大多數的陸客覺得，台灣的民主自由很給力（帶勁），但少有人認為這種民主自由能行諸中國大陸。其實，台灣若想給來客留下最重大的感受與領悟，那就是希望有朝一日能使陸客覺得：台灣的民主自由，有品質，有境界，也能行諸中國大陸。

陸客是熱情的，容易感動的。許多陸客對台灣公車讓座、捷運手扶梯站立右側及排隊，讚不絕口；當商家等待陸客付帳的時候，全體台灣人民應有一個共識與默契，大家何不協力以反映一個高品質的民主自由社會來迎接陸客，讓他們在離台時，行囊中最可回味的不只是鳳梨酥，而是有品質的民主與有品質的自由。

不要辜負了「民心對民心，民意對民意」的「人民對話」；陸客帶回的鳳梨酥擺不了幾天，但若能使他們對台灣的自由民主，心存尊重與珍惜，這才是重要性遠逾於商機的兩岸和平契機。