Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) Chinese minors of Taiwanese nationals and/or their Chinese spouses who hold a special long-term residence permit in Taiwan but live in China, are still prohibited from entering the country amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said Monday.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had earlier decided to use a special vetting mechanism to allow such children who do not have relatives to look after them in China and both of whose parents are in Taiwan to apply to enter Taiwan.

However, the special mechanism was been suspended as part of government efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, according to Kolas.

Whether the mechanism will be resumed will be decided by the Central Epidemic Command Center when it believes the COVID-19 has been brought under control or has begun to wane, Kolas said.

She made the remarks in rebuttal of Taipei City Councilor Luo Chih-chiang of the opposition Kuomintang, who wrote on Facebook that day that the Executive Yuan might no longer insist on a new policy announced last Wednesday that imposed an entry ban on children of Taiwanese and/or Chinese nationals with only Chinese passports.

The new policy was a reversal of a policy announced by the MAC a day earlier that such children would be allowed to enter the country.

That announcement, however, sparked a firestorm of criticism on social media over fears that the move would increase the risk of spreading the virus in Taiwan, and prompted the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to twice add new stipulations late last Tuesday.

Those stipulations said that minor children who do not have relatives to look after them in China and both of whose parents are in Taiwan, will be allowed entry into Taiwan by filing applications with the Ministry of the Interior through the special mechanism.

However, CCEC chief and Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung said the following day that the ban would remain in place.

Chen admitted that the new policy could put pressure on the parents, but pointed out that since they chose not to apply for Taiwan nationality for their children, they have to accept the consequences of their decision.

Commenting on the policy U-turn, former President Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday that the ban contravenes the spirit of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, adding that human rights must not be sacrificed in government efforts to contain the spread of the virus.