BEIJING -- A Chinese mainland spokesman has called on Taiwan authorities to allow Justin Yifu Lin, a former Taiwan army officer who came to the mainland and become a top economist, to return for a visit.

"As cross-Strait relations are developing peacefully, we hope the Taiwan authorities will handle this issue with humanitarian consideration and approve Lin and his wife to visit their relatives or pay respects to their ancestors," said Yang Yi of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Lin's aspiration is natural and it is a traditional for Chinese to pay tribute to the deceased, Yang said.

Lin, 61, was a soldier in Taiwan's army in his twenties. He swam several km to east China's Fujian Province in 1979. He studied at Peking University before obtaining a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. He worked as the World Bank's senior vice president between 2008 and 2012.

Lin has applied to pay homage to his ancestors in Taiwan, but Taiwanese authorities still regard him as a defector and insist on not pardoning him.