Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) Malaysia reportedly will grant Taiwanese passport holders visa-free treatment soon, according to a Malaysian newspaper report, but Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declined to confirm the report Saturday.
In an article published on Dec. 31, the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily quoted Lo Yu-chung, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, as saying that the Malaysian government "is expected to implement visa-free measures for Taiwanese passport holders in a short time."
Responding to the report, MOFA spokesman James Chang said Saturday that Taiwan has expressed its concerns and demands to Malaysia, but he would not comment on whether or not the Malaysian government has such plan.
"I believe that the Malaysian government will make an announcement, if there is any, at an appropriate time, " Chang said.
Malaysia has canceled visas on arrival for all countries since Aug. 15, claiming that many visitors had abused the privilege and overstayed the visas they received. Taiwan has allowed Malaysians to visit Taiwan without a visa since 2002.
The MOFA has urged Malaysia to grant Taiwan a visa waiver based on mutual benefit, and Taiwan's Legislative Yuan said it was contemplating re-imposing visa requirements for Malaysian nationals if the privileges were not reciprocated.
Ruling Kuomintang (KMT) legislators Lin Yu-fang and Chang Hsien-yao submitted a resolution last week in a session of the legislature's Foreign and Defense Committee urging Malaysia to restore visa-free treatment in two months.
Otherwise, they said, they would propose canceling visa-free privileges to Malaysian visitors in the next legislative session. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls