Taiwan will allow the entry of Hong Kong and Macau residents as part of a further easing of its COVID-19 prevention measures, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said on Tuesday, but stopped short of scrapping curbs on visitors from the mainland.
Hong Kong and Macau residents can apply for temporary stay permits in Taiwan starting Feb. 20, the council said in a statement.
The reopening to Hong Kong residents has been under evaluation for a long time, Liang Wen-chieh, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister, told a news conference in Taipei.
"We're sorry that our friends from Hong Kong cannot come to Taiwan for Valentine's Day," he said.
But travellers from the mainland still face restrictions.
"We all hope cross-Strait relations will bloom in the spring," Liang said.
"To reopen travel, we must be certain of our ability to control and assess the COVID situation," Liang added.
(Reporting by Yi-Mou Lee and Faith Hung; Writing by Ethan Wang and Gerry Doyle)
