Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, March 29, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday slammed Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for its political manipulation via tourism.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a media inquiry on the decision of Taiwan's tourism authorities to suspend a plan allowing tour groups to visit the mainland after the Spring Festival holiday.

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Though people in Taiwan have been eagerly awaiting group tours to the mainland, and though the island's tourism sector has been calling on the DPP to lift its ban, relevant authorities in Taiwan have consistently resorted to political calculation, Zhu said.

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The suspension of the plan was not the first time Taiwan's tourism authorities have gone back on their word, she said.

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This will only lead, once again, to Taiwan's residents and tourism sector being discontented with the DPP's political manipulation via tourism, obstruction of exchanges between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and harm to the interests of compatriots on both sides, the spokesperson said.