Posted on: Thursday, June 26, 2003

EDITORIAL
Ease passage to paradise for Asians

Let's face it, we're a long way from everywhere, but Europe in particular. For that and other reasons, it's little wonder that Asian visitors to Hawai'i vastly outnumber European ones.

Unfortunately, the passage to paradise is complicated by federal rules that require Asians — save the Japanese — to embark on an increasingly demanding visa application process that now includes a face-to-face interview.

By comparison, most Europeans can visit the United States visa-free, and we'd bet they're no less likely to overstay their visas than Asians.

Not only does the disparity in visa waivers suggest an outmoded bias, but Gov. Linda Lingle says it's causing Hawai'i's tourism industry to lose out on a major chunk of the market. For example, she estimates that 1.5 million to 2 million Chinese would visit Hawai'i each year were it not for the tough visa restrictions.

Before Sept. 11, efforts were under way to achieve to fast-track visas for the Chinese and other Asians. But everything tightened following the terrorist attacks. Although that's to be expected, the rules ought to be applied fairly and smartly.

While Lingle clearly wants to push tourism and trade ties between China and Hawai'i, we'd like to see similar efforts made to ease restrictions on travel from South Korea and Taiwan, which are also promising tourism markets.

If we're going to strengthen our ties to Asia, then let's be more expansive.