Advertisement
Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Taiwan opts for ‘step-by-step’ reopening to mainland China, Hong Kong

  • Taipei’s council for cross-strait policy says full reopening must wait because of security concerns
  • Beijing calls restrictions on Hong Kong, Macau and mainland travellers a ‘double standard’ as island prepares to lift border controls for other tourists

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
4
People from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will be allowed to visit Taiwan for family, funerals and business purposes, according to Taipei’s council on cross-strait policy. Photo: AP
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
Taiwan plans to lift border controls in two weeks, but its full reopening to Hong Kong must wait because of security concerns, according to the island’s council for cross-strait policy.
Advertisement

Citing Beijing’s “repeated threats” against the self-ruled island, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said on Thursday that reopening to people from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China would happen gradually.

“In the past two years, mainland China has repeatedly ramped up pressure and intimidation against Taiwan, which has seriously affected normal exchanges and interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” said the council, which is responsible for policy on relations with Beijing.

“We will adjust our entry restrictions on people from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China on a step-by-step basis” while “ensuring national security and the rights of [Taiwan’s] people” and keeping economic development and Covid-19 measures in mind, it said.

The council’s comments came after Beijing accused the island of blocking normal visits by people from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

“While Taiwan prepares to lift its border controls, the various restrictions it set on visits by people from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau are obviously a double standard,” Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said on Wednesday.

01:51

Japan to lift Covid restrictions on foreign tourists from October 11

Japan to lift Covid restrictions on foreign tourists from October 11

She said as long as Taiwan is able to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, it should stop its “political manoeuvres” and resume normal visits and exchanges for people from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Advertisement
Advertisement