Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-22
By: By Tseng Ying-yu and Jay Chen, Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) China has given a “positive response” to Taiwan’s concerns over a new electronic card issued to Taiwanese visitors, Premier Mao Chi-kuo said Tuesday.

At the request of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under China’s State Council clarified late Monday that all information stored in the card would be consistent with that on the passport-style document that it replaces, Mao told reporters.

The TAO has also said that the new card, which looks like a credit card with the bearer’s picture, will only be used for travel purposes, Mao said. The premier reiterated Taiwan’s hope that no new measures related to exchanges across the Taiwan Strait should be implemented until after a consensus is reached through full consultations between the two sides.

On Monday, Mao expressed Taiwan’s “extreme dissatisfaction” over the lack of discussions prior to China’s announcement that it would begin to issue the new card that day. The Chinese side notified Taipei of the new electronic card before a trial in July and its full implementation Monday without prior consultations, said Lin Chu-chia, deputy chief of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Cabinet agency responsible for relations with China.     [FULL  STORY]