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Approval of HKTDC application to be left to Ma government

The government will leave the decision of whether to approve the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s (HKTDC) application to set up a branch office in Taipei to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government that will take power on May 20, Executive Yuan Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said.

Shieh made the remarks in response to a question from reporters at a press conference following the Cabinet’s weekly meeting.

“As [to whether approval of the application] is an important policy, we should respectfully wait for the KMT government’s decision,” Shieh said.

Shieh didn’t confirm if the application had already been submitted to the government, but anonymous officials with the Hong Kong government were quoted by the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying that it had been submitted to the Taiwanese authorities.

“I don’t have explicit information [on the application] at hand,” Shieh said.

But Mainland Affairs Council Chairman (MAC) Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said on Tuesday that the HKTDC didn’t submit its application until days before the March 22 presidential election, leaving too little time for the government to consider the case.

Chen said the HKTDC wished to set up a branch office in Taipei, taking the form of a company.

The MAC had reviewed the case after the election, but failed to reach a conclusion, he said.

The HKTDC is a semi-official trade organization of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong Tourism Board has already established an office in Taipei.
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