Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has approved an amendment to the law on April 6, allowing the "Taiwan Republic" stickers on their "Republic of China" passports. The revoked legislation sparked controversy in China, refusing two Taiwanese visitors to enter the mainland.

BBC reports that the Legislative Yuan has agreed to lift the punishment for Taiwanese passport holders, who are mostly pro-Taiwanese independence activists, to modify or delete markings from their travel documents. In August last year, there were controversies over a pro-independence campaign that encourages citizens to replace the "Republic of China" with the "Republic of Taiwan."

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As a result, two Taiwanese travellers were denied entry in Hong Kong citing that their passports were altered without permission. Several Taiwanese citizens were also denied entry to Macau and Singapore citing the same reasons.

There were speculations that China sees this as a symbol of Taiwan independence, therefore, denying entry to passport holders who changed their stickers to "Taiwan Republic".

Previously, there were reports of 15 Taiwanese citizens being denied entry to a special administrative region of China in February. The is the consequence of the "politically controversial and sensitive stickers". Likewise, three travellers were refused entry to Singapore in December.

During the parliamentary session, the government officials have emphasized that travellers must bear the risk of sporting such stickers on their passports. China gave warning, through its national newspaper Global Times, that travellers may still be denied entry. Chinese state media believes that authorizing the modification of passport stickers may lead to other forms of rebellion, BBC says.

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