The World - News from Jan. 3, 1988

More than 25,000 Taiwanese, about half of them business people and retired servicemen, have sought permission to visit China since the government in Taipei relaxed a travel ban two months ago. Attributing its figures to a confidential government report, the Taipei newspaper United Daily News said 10,000 people already have traveled from Taiwan to the Chinese mainland since Oct. 31, when the government first began approving such visits. Taipei says the restrictions were eased for humanitarian reasons, allowing Taiwanese who fled the mainland after the Communist takeover in 1949 to return to their hometowns for family reunions.