s0ssos

Why is it that Japan has allowed transit for a long-time but Taiwan has not allowed transit?

restlessinRNO

An excellent question, that I have wondered too. I used to fly SFO-TPE-BKK. Now it is SFO-NRT-BKK. So ANA wins and BR loses. 😊

uanj

It looks like if you hit confirm you can go ahead and book the flight, they are just giving you the warning that transit suspension will go on through end September and you needed testing two days before your flight. Much better than AA who have been pushing connections through HND/NRT changing airports without any special warning (which have not been allowed to non-residents of Japan).

For some of the other comments, I don't know of anyone who has been denied a visa to Taiwan this year, the representative offices seem to be finding ways to grant them for family or business visits. But you will have to quarantine on arrival, just like residents, so I am sure that keeps the number of applicants down. And even last year when we looked into getting special entry permits for business, when they were not likely to approved they told us in advance and asked us to wait 1-2 months and apply again. It was not a case of apply, pay, and spin the roulette wheel. Maybe we were just lucky with this particular representative office but they were very professional. And the suspension only lasted 8 weeks or so.

Two reasons I can think of . Weren't there some cases before related to workers at TPE who spread covid to their familiies? International transit was never on the scale of HKG, NRT, or ICN. BR and CI are both making decent profits. I think the government is looking at the risk/reward return and probably saying international transit is not an immediate need to be addressed. Just my guess.

For everyone wanting the government to move faster on relaxing restrictions I counsel some patience. The number of positive cases is going up by a thousand a day right now, day after day. Something like 99.7% have low level or no symptoms. If this can be managed, which is the case so far, I bet they will continue the gradual relaxing of restrictions. I am impressed they have not hit the breaks somewhat so far given the sudden rise in cases.

estnet

Are you saying that you can transit with a pcr test? It looks like 2 separate rules. One is for ARRIVING passengers (eg arriving into Taiwan) and separately no transit until the end of Sept. (at least)
"It looks like if you hit confirm you can go ahead and book the flight, they are just giving you the warning that transit suspension will go on through end September and you needed testing two days before your flight."

ithinkurdumb

Even UA and NH do the same. SO had a booking for TPE-HND-SFO on BR and UA. When UA cancelled the HND-SFO flight, she was automatically rebooked on UA's NRT-SFO despite she has no Japan residency and is unable to self-transfer between HND and NRT. Although it is probably better than BR, which cancel their own flights, without rebooking, and just send a text: "There is a change on your itinerary A1B2C3. Please contact the reservation center."

Regardless what airlines do, there is simply no way to transit at TPE at the moment. Once you disembarked the arriving flight, you either have to wait at the arrival gate to be tested, or be guided through immigration/baggage claim and do the saliva test. There is no option for staying the airside regardless of nationality/residency.

docsxx

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4520793

Taiwan to decide in 10 days on shortened quarantine for overseas arrivals

Chen says Taiwan will relax quarantine rules for foreign arrivals as long as no new variants are found in next 10 days

lsquare

It's dumb, and it doesn't follow the science. Taiwan should just copy Singapore's re-opening strategy and learn to live with COVID. Since Taiwan has access to the best possible COVID vaccines, it makes no sense to try to have a China-like COVID containment strategy.

Skyman65

Taiwan is already not pursuing a China-like containment strategy. We have never had anything even close to China's strict lockdowns, and that's never going to happen here.

Taiwan is already moving toward opening up and coexisting with covid. They may not be moving at the speed we would like (and if you understand Taiwan politics, you will have a better understanding of the reasons for this), but they ARE moving in the right direction.

I'm feeling more and more confident that quarantine for inbound travelers will be greatly reduced by this summer. I doubt they will eliminate it altogether, but I think it's likely they will at least match the new 3+4 program.

s0ssos

The phrase 'follow the science' is dumb. We have never followed the science. The world is not run by scientists nor should it. Should we just let the weakest die? That is 'survival of the fittest' and 'following the science.'

lsquare

I associate border closures and strict quarantine requirements in an era where high-quality vaccines are available with a China-like containment strategy.

I believe what you're saying, but it still doesn't change my opinion that this is just dumb. I haven't been to Taipei since 2019, and I'm sort of dying to go back. Taipei is also closer to the US than Singapore, so that's something for me to consider when I'm itching to go to Asia.

lsquare

Why do things have to be black and white? COVID isn't going to go away anytime soon, if ever. So you want to live in this state for the rest of your life? There has to be balance, and at this point, I'm not sure how the quarantine requirement for someone like me, that's triple vaccinated with Pfizer, poses a risk to the weakest Taiwanese.

ithinkurdumb

About time. Computex starts in four weeks As for the relaxed rules for crews, it might have something to do with the planned 700-people strike by the Taoyuan Pilot's Union (which is still pushing for the relaxed rules to apply for all crews instead of just those who were boosted).

The government sure knows to leave a lot of wiggle rooms as what counts as a new variant? Was BA.2 a new variant comparing to Omicron? What about BA.2.12? Or BA.2.12.1?

docsxx

They simply can't be clear and predictable. The opposite of a good administration.

Dave510

I think it's more productive to not resort to extremism. Just because Taiwan doesn't open up now doesn't mean they want to live in such a state for the rest of their lives. Taiwanese people are, on average, very well travelled and enjoy a free global world as much as the rest of us. However, that doesn't mean they don't have other considerations that are perhaps harder to understand for outsiders (both legitimate health concerns like a lack of boosters, and political considerations).

Your booster protects you, but it doesn't protect others from getting infected by you. I'm speaking from experience, as I sit here in voluntary quarantine after being vaccinated with double Pfizer and boosted with Moderna for good measure. I'm quite sure if I cough at someone else, they'd still get infected regardless of my vaccination status.

uanj

I really agree with every part of this.