Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) recently announced that Chung Hwa Travel Service (中華旅行社), Taiwan's representative office in the territory, will be allowed to set up an office inside Chek Lap Kok airport to handle paperwork for Chinese tourists transiting to Taiwan. Tung also said Hong Kong will start issuing electronic visas to visitors from Taiwan at the beginning of next year in order to speed up the visa application time -- ? which is currently two or three weeks.
These two measures reciprocate Taiwan's goodwill gesture of offering landing visas to Hong Kong residents, according to Chang Liang-jen (
The public has generally praised Tung's decision to make such a major political decision on Taiwan-Hong Kong exchanges prior to his campaign for re-election next year. He has also allowed Li Shaomin (李少民) -- ?a Chinese-born American academic and assistant professor at Hong Kong's City University who was convicted of spying and deported by China -- ?to return to Hong Kong recently.
Such maneuvers may be an attempt by Tung to publicize Hong Kong's spirit of "one country, two systems" and its high level of autonomy -- or they may just be an effort to improve his political image and change the impression the people of Hong Kong have of him as a do-nothing.
By allowing Taiwan to set up an office at the airport, Tung settled a controversial issue that has dragged on for three years. The office will be a great convenience for Chinese tourists who want to travel to Taiwan.
Is it a bit of preparation on China's part for when Taiwan opens its doors to Chinese tourists? Or does China hope that visits between the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong and China will accelerate a decision by Taiwan authorities to relax the "no haste, be patient" (戒急用忍) policy, and lead to active cultural and economic exchanges and developments? These are key factors as to whether Tung's new policies have any political significance.
More than 2 million people from Taiwan visit Hong Kong annually. But because it takes a long time to obtain a Hong Kong visa, many others choose to enter China from Macau or only use Hong Kong as a transit stop. This has not only limited opportunities for the people of Taiwan to spend money in Hong Kong, but also reduced the prospects for greater interaction between Taiwan and Hong Kong. The territory's significance as a bridge between Taiwan and China has thus been constrained.
In addition, since the two sides of the Taiwan Strait may enter the WTO at the end of this year and Taiwan may soon have direct links with China, Hong Kong is likely to see a decline in its capacity to be a bargaining chip for Beijing in cross-strait relations.
As a result, Hong Kong's new measure should only be seen as helping Chinese residents visit Taiwan, and vice versa, and encouraging tourists from both sides of the Strait to tour Hong Kong and thereby boost its economic development. Hong Kong will also be able to portray itself to more people from Taiwan as a shining example of the "one country, two systems" model. Tung's policy may have been three years in the making, but it still has political and economic consequences.
There should still be ample room for Taiwan-Hong Kong exchanges. If the two sides can promote more interaction and help their people better understand each other's political, economic and cultural character-istics, they can help to end the current cross-strait political stalemate. I believe it will be a blessing for people in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. It will also be a good opportunity to realize President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) political goals -- cultural integration, economic integration and, finally, political integration.
Chen Sung-shan is a member of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission of the Examination Yuan.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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