Macau says visa rules set to change for Taiwanese

Reports in Hong Kong yesterday quoted Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho as saying Taiwan nationals would not be able to enter the territory with Taiwanese passports in the future.

The Sing Tao Daily News quoted Ho as saying at a public function that Taiwanese passports would no longer be valid as a travel document for entering Macau after its return to China last month.

The Macau Special Administrative Region government cannot compromise its principles, despite the importance of Taiwanese visitors to Macau's tourism industry, Ho said.

The government is studying revised entry measures for Taiwanese nationals and hopes to keep them flexible and convenient, Ho added.

Ho has not yet given any indication of when new regulations would be put into place.

The former Portuguese colony saw 820,000 arrivals from Taiwan last year, many of whom used the enclave as a transit stop to China since transportation links between Taiwan and China are restricted.

Many Taiwanese also travel to Macau for its legal gambling, which officials in Taiwan have said accounts for much of its profits in the industry.

William Li (厲威廉), the head of the Taipei Economic, Trade and Cultural Center in Macau, said Saturday that passports were suitable documents to enter Macau, and has rejected the use of alternative travel documents, the Sing Tao reported.

The permits, known as "Taiwan travel documents" (台胞證) are currently issued by authorities in China for Taiwanese citizens who want to travel to the mainland.

A row erupted over arrangements for Taiwanese visiting Macau after Ho encouraged them to visit with such documents on the first day of Macau's reversion to Chinese rule.

Taiwanese officials have said they would retaliate if Macau tightened arrangements for Taiwanese nationals traveling to Macau.

They have pointed out that there are as many as 35,000 Macau residents living and working in Taiwan, and have suggested that any change in procedures between them could influence their right to remain here.

Taiwan officials in Macau have also claimed that before the handover, they had come under pressure from authorities there to change the name of Taiwan's unofficial presence -- the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office -- leading to fears it could be shut down if it kept its name.

Li took down the signs of the office on the day of the handover -- which drew criticism from his superiors in Taipei -- and the office has since changed its name to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center.