Taiwan suffers drop in mainland visitors

The drop in the number of Chinese mainland tourists to Taiwan since the island's new leader Tsai Ing-wen took office two months ago has dealt a blow to its tourism industry. And the death of 24 mainland tourists in a bus fire on July 19 is likely to deal another blow to Taiwan's tourism industry. The driver and a tour guide, both Taiwan residents, also died in the fire. Since loose management of the industry and obsolete equipment should be blamed for the tragedy, more mainland tourists are likely to abandon the idea of visiting the island.

True, Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, has said there are no "quota" restrictions on person-to-person exchange across the Taiwan Straits, but many mainland residents' decision not to visit the island can still be attributed to Tsai's reluctance to accept the 1992 Consensus and its core principle of one China.

In fact, this could be just the beginning of Taiwan's struggle to lure mainland visitors. Although Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party has proposed a seemingly feasible alternative of expanding the island's Southeast Asian markets, the mainland's economic significance for Taiwan is irreplaceable in the near future.