China Focus: Evolution of entry permit for Taiwanese

The Chinese mainland's first "Certificate for Taiwanese Travelers" was issued by Hong Kong-based China Travel Service to Chau Shun-Kuen in 1987.

With the certificate in hand, Chau, a Taiwan resident who had not been to her hometown in the city of Changzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province for four decades, traveled from Taiwan to Hong Kong and then flew to Shanghai, which is near Jiangsu, on Nov. 4, 1987.

The year 1987 marked the beginning of the thawing of relations between the mainland and Taiwan, as communication resumed across the Taiwan Strait with Taiwanese authorities allowing military veterans to return to their hometowns on the mainland.

More than 100 Taiwan residents obtained the certificate in two days and embarked on their trips home by sea, land and air via Hong Kong, according to a Xinhua News Agency report dated Nov. 4, 1987.

The move ended 38 years of estrangement between the mainland and Taiwan after 1949 when the Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, was defeated in a civil war and fled to the island.

KMT forces, soldiers and officers' families and other followers went to Taiwan, but due to a later cross-Strait face-off, they were not allowed to return home for decades.

In order to visit home, mainland-born Taiwanese had to travel via Hong Kong, Tokyo or another third city before heading for the mainland.

The "one-off" certificate had to be obtained 15 days before landing on the mainland, so it was not convenient in emergency situations, Lai Kam-Hung, a senior reporter with Taipei-based United Daily News, said while recalling using the certificate back then.

Still, holding a certificate also came with some special perks. With their foreign exchange credentials, they could buy home appliances and electronics like TV sets, washing machines, refrigerators and microwaves rarely seen in mainland households in the 1980s, or other import commodities such as Nike shoes or cigarettes.

Mainland-born Taiwanese who headed for their hometowns often bought these objects for relatives and friends, usually in designated shops such as the Beijing Friendship Store.

At that time, the supply of goods was insufficient on the mainland, which prompted some Taiwanese tourist guides who frequently traveled to the mainland to resell foreign exchange credentials to mainland residents at a profit.

However, Taiwanese also paid a price for these privileges.

Taiwanese lawyer Shum Hang-Tak recalled that when he started a business on the mainland, he could only choose from a few designated hotels in Beijing such as the Great Wall Hotel and the Friendship Hotel in 1992 and paid higher hotel fees.

Using the "Certificate for Taiwanese Travelers," he had to pay double the cost for plane tickets on the mainland. He also had to pay 1.5 times the price for the entrance fee to Beihai Park in downtown Beijing.

Nevertheless, the mainland market's abundant business opportunities and taxation privileges for Taiwanese enterprises and investment attracted more Taiwan residents like Shum.

Shum recalled that airplanes from Taiwan to Hong Kong were crowded, as most of the Taiwanese passengers headed for the mainland for business.

In response to the great influx of Taiwanese, on May 1, 1992, the one-off "Certificate for Taiwanese Travelers" was changed from a piece of paper to a formal pass with a validity period of up to five years.

A new version of the pass was unveiled in 1998 to prevent counterfeiting.

Over the last 25 years, the number of Taiwanese traveling across the Strait increased from 5,000 to 5 million annually, statistics from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) show.

The number of entries by Taiwan residents last year was 112 times that of 1987, the statistics show.

The MPS has simplified application procedures for the entry permit, and the certificate has become an identification card for Taiwanese living or working on the mainland, instead of just a travel permit.

Most importantly, Taiwanese no longer have to pay additional fees for plane tickets, hotel expenses, park entrance tickets or other "special treatment," which was characteristic of the mainland's then planned economy.

Taiwanese students studying on the mainland are now treated as local students, said Lai, the Taiwanese reporter, adding that the disappearance of the "special treatment" reflects the gradual normalization of cross-Strait ties.