Taiwan urges Philippines to lift ban on its citizens over coronavirus fears

FILE PHOTO: A Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane, the country's flag carrier, waits at the tarmac of the international airport in Manila April 10, 2012. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

TAIPEI/MANILA (Reuters) - Taiwan urged the Philippines on Tuesday to lift a travel ban on its citizens after Manila included them in curbs on arrivals from China in a bid to control a coronavirus epidemic, despite Taiwan's small number of cases.

Taiwan is governed entirely separately from China, but Beijing claims the island as its own and the World Health Organization (WHO) clubs its virus cases in the category for China.