ROC Passport Holders Can Travel Visa Free to 96 Countries

Every year, tens of thousands of Taiwanese travel abroad for business, study, or leisure, and getting documents processed and even enduring face-to-face interviews as some countries demand can be a tiring expenditure of time and energy. After years of hard work behind the scenes, though, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) finally achieved a breakthrough in 2010, earning Taiwanese the chance to enjoy visa-free stays of up to six months in 35 countries, including Canada and the European Union.

Taiwan is Canada's 13th largest trading partner, and the fourth biggest in Asia. Every year, as many as 150,000 Taiwanese visit Canada, making Taiwan their seventh biggest source of overseas tourists. Canada is also the fourth most popular destination for Taiwanese studying abroad, with approximately 15,000 Taiwanese currently enrolled in Canadian schools.

After two years of negotiations, in November 2010 the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, David Lee, announced that a breakthrough had been reached. Lee also remarked that the biggest sticking point had come from the rural origins of the Canadian prime minister and many cabinet members; with many of them coming from constituencies that raise cattle and rely on profits from beef exports, the Canadian government had initially demanded that any agreement on visa-free entry should also include an agreement that Taiwan would import Canadian bone-in beef. With the massive negative publicity that arose from American bone-in beef imports recently, Taiwan could not agree, leading to a stalemate.

However, after the Canadians conducted a long, thorough cost-benefit analysis, weighing the loss of visa fees against benefits to trade, culture, and education, they finally agreed to separate the two issues. This willingness to forego the beef deal, says Lee, was a sign of the seriousness and deliberation with which the Canadian government approached the agreement.

(St. Mark's Square, Venice)

The process for the European Union, though, was more complex. The MOFA initially approached the EU regarding visa-free access several years ago, even though many considered it an impossible mission.

Since President Ma took office and implemented the "flexible diplomacy" approach based on respect and rationality, the EU has become more welcoming in light of the thawing tensions between Taiwan and China. Taiwan's representatives in European nations leaped on the opportunity, and after 15 rounds of deliberations, near the end of 2010 the good news finally arrived-Taiwanese traveling to the EU could look forward to visa-free entry from mid-January 2011.

Timothy Yang, Taiwan's minister of foreign affairs, says that flexible diplomacy was not the only factor in this success-Taiwan's high level of cultural literacy, respect for the rule of law, strong protections against passport counterfeiting, strong border security, and thriving economy were also contributing factors, and helped ensure a win-win situation for both sides.

For example, since first offering visa-free access to Taiwanese in March 2009, the United Kingdom has seen a rise of 105% in the numbers of Taiwanese visiting, going from 28,000 in 2008 to 57,000 in 2009.

Prior to Ma's presidency, Taiwan had secured agreements with 53 countries and territories for visa-free access for, or the granting of landing visas to, ROC passport holders. Today, that total is 96, an increase of 81%.

As for the United States, one of Taiwan's closest partners, Yang notes that since the September 11th attacks, the US has placed a tremendous focus on national security, and so getting visa-free access would first require Taiwan to meet extremely strict criteria, including strong anti-counterfeiting measures on passports, a visa rejection rate of 3% or less, immediate sharing of data on passport losses and thefts, and strict controls on the activities of suspected terrorists and those with records of serious crimes. Taiwan's rejection rate dropped below 3% for the first time in 2010 to only 2.2%, and this has helped move negotiations forward.

Having secured agreement with the EU, the MOFA is now moving on to negotiations with six Balkan states, as well as 18 overseas territories of the UK, France, and the Netherlands. The hope is that Taiwan will be able to break the 100 mark in terms of visa-free access by the end of the Republic of China's centenary year, backing up President Ma's comment that the ROC is "a nation respected internationally and that touches hearts worldwide."