China promotes blue cities & counties tours to Taiwan / 觀光分化? 中國業者推台"藍色縣市之旅"　　　　　　　　　　

Saturday marks the start of Golden Week in China, therefore Chinese travel agencies are promoting "blue cities and counties" tours to Taiwan, which will bypass Taipei City and cover cities and counties that recognize the 1992 Consensus. The total cost for a 6-day tour is less than NT$20,000. Previously, 8 KMT and independent city mayors and county magistrates visited China to promote Taiwan tourism. These cities were given preferential treatment by China's Taiwan Affairs Office, and now Chinese travel agencies are promoting "blue cities and counties" tours, which will bypass Taipei City and cover destinations with KMT mayors or magistrates who recognize the 1992 Consensus. ==KO WEN-JE, Taipei City Mayor== Cheng Wen-tsan is the mayor of Taoyuan International Airport, Lin Chia-lung, the Taichung Airport, and Chen Chu, Kaohsiung International Airport. I don't believe Chinese tourists can parachute to Taiwan. In other words, the geography of Taiwan cannot be divided along party lines. This kind of separation is pointless. Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je responded with humor, stressing that Taiwan cannot be divided, and a trip to Taiwan would not be complete without a visit to the National Palace Museum and Taipei 101. A 6-day package tour of the "blue cities and counties" starts with the Taroko National Park on the second day upon arrival, and ends at the Glass Museum in Hsinchu City. The total cost is less than NT$20,000. The itinerary plan has raised speculation that China is trying to divide Taiwan with tourism. New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu disagrees. ==ERIC CHU, New Taipei City Mayor== We are not just promoting these 8 cities and counties. We want to continue to attract Chinese tourists to Taiwan. We are just a window that will hopefully get more people to visit Taiwan. ==WILLIAM LAI, Tainan City Mayor== This will have negative consequences on cross-strait relations and is not conducive to mutual trust and exchange. This will only push both sides further apart. After the new administration took office, cross-strait relations have plunged to a new low. It remains to be seen if China's strategy of preferential treatment for "blue" cities will be effective. TRANSLATED BY：CHRISTINA LIU 為了拚觀光，泛藍陣營八縣市首長赴陸，國台辦給予八項大利多，中國十一長假展開，大陸旅遊業者推出藍色縣市之旅，鼓勵陸客前往承認九二共識的友好縣市，跳過以往陸客必定造訪的台北市。 ==台北市長 柯文哲== 桃園機場是鄭文燦在當市長 清泉崗機場是林佳龍 小港機場是陳菊市長 我就不相信那些大陸客 是跳降落傘到台灣 所以台灣是一體的 分化沒有用 除非他跳降落傘 我就認了 不然這個沒有意義 柯文哲幽默以對，強調台灣是一體的，來台灣怎麼可能不來故宮和台北101，藍色縣市之旅的六天行程，第一天抵達台灣後，第二天直奔花蓮太魯閣，第三天前往清水斷崖，到新北市野柳跟九份，第四天在新北鶯歌，第五天到苗栗南庄和南投日月潭，最後一天到新竹玻璃博物館，晚上返回中國大陸。六天下來，團費只不到2萬元，在新北市停留兩天，時間最久，面對外界質疑對岸藉著觀光分化台灣，新北市長朱立倫不以為然。 ==新北市長 朱立倫== 不是只有這八個縣市 最重要就是希望大陸觀光客 能夠持續來到台灣 我們只是窗口 希望更多的觀光客來到台灣 ==台南市長 賴清德== 後遺症更大的是兩岸的 交流互信都沒有幫助 這個只是會讓兩岸越走越遠 新政府上任後，兩岸關係陷入冰點，陸方首度差別化待遇，未來會不會持續發酵，都讓各界用放大鏡檢視。 記者 林欣儀 彭耀祖 台北報導