Zella, first welcome to TAA!. Now on to your travel question.
Taiwan, has been faced with political upheaval since it was established in the late 40's after WWII. there is a push for Taiwan to reunify with mainland China and it's important to note that there currently is
no American Embassy in Taiwan, (having one indicates acceptance by the American Government of Taiwan's self proclaimed status as an independant nation and spells potential trouble for the US in their sometimes strained relations with mainland China.
I would make very sure that my travellers are registered with the AIT, (a service set up to deal with American Travellers in Taiwan, in view of the lack of embassy protection).
Communication regarding any developments that might impact American Nationals come best from a reliable source and AIT is the most reliable that in country US citizens have access to.
Further, I would make sure that US citizens travelling to Taiwan, ROC have an exit plan in place, which could include an easily changed full fare plane ticket and access to extra cash.
If your travellers are in the major cities such as Taipei or Kao-hsiung, or Su-AO, it's probably a good idea to get them internet access so they can communicate easily there are several good providers, I have a list if you want to email me.
The State Department issues Travel Warnings for individual countries and has not issued one for Taiwan (or mainland China either for that matter as of this date). You can check their most current offerings at:
http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html All things being equal, it's doubtful that travelling americans will be asked to leave Taiwan, however, you really cant be too careful. It IS a long way from home to be unsure or have questions about safety. The Taiwanese goernmnet however, has worked very hard to establish itself as business friendly and it's doubtful that they would do anything to impede that relationship.
Frankly I would worry far more about earthquake and typhoon (typhoon season begins in about a month). It's rather important to have an emergency plan in case of either of these events as the company who sends the employees has an obligation to see to their safety.
We once lost contact with one of our employees for over a week when the last Earthquake hit. Cell phones/sat phones are also a good investment for a travelling employee if they are working on projects that could incur substantial cost if they are out of communication for one reason or another.
The easiest exit plan to formulate rather than trying to get a plane out to the US directly is often to take the traveller into Bangkok, where there IS an American embassy to assist should they be required.
If I can answer other questions, feel free to email me at
Andrea@administrative-assistants.com I've sent many an employee to Taiwan and have extensive lists of general "stuff" that might prove helpful.
Andrea
