Premier Wu Den-yih said Wednesday that Taiwan could allow Chinese people to make self-guided tours of the island as early as next year. Taiwan would likely first launch an 'experimental' program before the Lantern Festival in 2011 to allow individual Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan 'if the two sides prepare all related measures, ' Wu said. The 2011 Lantern Festival falls on Feb. 17 next year. Wu said, however, that the schedule is not set and that the government is still outlining guidelines and regulations necessary for Taiwan to open its doors to individual Chinese. Asked if he is worried that the move could lead to an increasing number of Chinese overstaying their visas, Wu said that very few Chinese tourists stayed in Taiwan illegally. Governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are cautious on the issue, he said. If everything goes well, Taiwan will first allow visit by individual Chinese tourists from chosen Chinese cities and provinces, Wu said. Wu predicted that the number of Chinese tourists will reach 1.5 million people this year. Meanwhile, National Immigration Agency statistics show that more than 600,000 Chinese tourists visited Taiwan in 2009. Since Taiwan began allowing Chinese tour groups to visit in July 2008, 33 tourists have broken away from their groups and stayed illegally, according to agency statistics released in May. Six of them have been located and repatriated, statistics showed. 