TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Responding to a Chinese ban on individual travelers visiting Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) announced Thursday (August 1) that more relatives of Chinese spouses would soon be allowed to enter the island for short family visits.

The new measures were destined to underline the contrast in the human rights situation between Taiwan and China, reports said.

In addition to relatives of Chinese spouses, Chinese relatives of special foreign citizens, stateless individuals, and spouses of Hong Kong and Macau government officials based in Taiwan would also benefit from measures favoring family reunions, the MOI said.

On Thursday, the first day of the new regulations, a Chinese woman named Ning applied at the Tainan office of the National Immigration Agency for a visit to Taiwan by her brother and his wife, officials said. In Taoyuan, a man named Lou applied for his sister’s husband to come over to Taiwan for a short trip, according to the report.