A total of 926 Macau students have been affected as Taiwan has suddenly imposed an entry ban on Hong Kong and Macau residents as the island’s pro-independence administration is further tightening travel restrictions amid the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) epidemic, the Higher Education Bureau (DSES) said in a statement on Monday.
The Taiwan authorities announced earlier on Monday that Hong Kong and Macau residents would be temporarily barred from entering the island from midnight. They said that the abrupt measure was needed to prevent the further NCP spread on the island.
The bureau said in a statement that based on Taiwan’s new measure, it immediately launched an online registration system to see how many Macau students who study in Taiwan would be affected by the sudden measure, so as to provide them with assistance.
According to the statement, Air Macau and Eva Air have so far agreed to change the flight dates free of charge for the students.
The statement said that a total of 926 students had registered with the bureau between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday, and students had initially arranged to fly to Taiwan between February 12 and 17.
The statement said the data showed that 889 people are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programmes in Taiwan, 34 are enrolled in master’s degree programmes, while only three are studying for a doctorate.
According to DSES data, there are about 4,500 Macau students enrolled in tertiary education.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © South China Morning Post
