China has announced that it will stop issuing individual tourist visas to Taiwan starting in August in its latest apparent move to increase pressure on Tsai Ing-wen’s government.

Since 2011, residents of 47 mainland cities have been able to apply for individual travel permits to visit Taiwan. Those permits generally last for six months.

What’s this really all about?

However, on Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism declared that the program would be suspended starting on August 1, meaning that the only way mainlanders can now visit Taiwan as tourists is to go on a group tour.

In its brief statement, the ministry cited the current state of cross-strait ties as the reason for the change. The program was put into place when the China-friendly Kuomintang was running the show in Taiwan.

Since Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, took office as president in 2016, Beijing has tried many different ways to get her to accept the “one China” consensus, cutting off diplomatic channels and stealing away more of Taiwan’s allies.

Tsai is up for re-election in 2020 and clamping down on deep-pocketed Chinese tourists looks to be one way that Beijing hopes will spoil her chances.

What’s this mean for my travel plans?

According to Taiwan’s tourism bureau, 1.67 million tourists from the mainland visited Taiwan in the first half of this year, up 30 percent from the same period a year ago — though it’s not clear what portion of that number came as individuals or in groups.

The move comes only a few months before China’s national holiday extravaganza known as Golden Week. Those who have already received their travel permit are still free to head over to Taiwan until the permit expires, but those who delayed in planning their vacation are out of luck.