Beijing officials said yesterday that Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh had planned to visit the territory this weekend for three days to learn more about Hong Kong's management of its harbor and mass transit system. But Hsieh, who is also the chairman of the DPP, called off the trip yesterday because of Beijing's interference.
"China will not refuse to come into contact with the DPP. As long as the party accepts the one `China principle' and acknowledges the `1992 consensus,' contact can be arranged right away," said Zhang Mingqing (
"The causes of cross-strait tensions have not been rooted out," he said.
Zhang said that a review of Hsieh's visit was based on regulations governing civil exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong and on current cross-strait conditions. But he refused to confirm whether Hsieh's visa had been approved or not.
Zhang spoke obliquely at first, confusing reporters and referring to "principles," which he did not make explicit.
When pressed by reporters, he later implied that the DPP's refusal to accept the one China principle would result in China's failure to approve the trip. Only later still did he say so explicitly.
Seemingly put out by China's cold response, Hsieh later held a press conference to officially announce the cancellation of his trip.
"I will not accept any type of political blackmail [in order to make the trip]," Hsieh said.
As a DPP member, Hsieh is unlikely to endorse the one China principle, as to do so would violate the party's platform.
In addition, Hsieh raised his doubts about the authenticity of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, questioning why it was Beijing authorities -- and not Hong Kong officials -- who had responded to his visa application.
He said that the Kaohsiung city government had submitted the application to Hong Kong because it believed that the territory enjoyed autonomy since the "one country, two systems" policy was put into effect there.
Hsieh also said that China's failure to approve his trip had made a mockery of its own policy, adding that "This will be a good lesson for us to learn to express [our] opposition to the policy of one country, two systems in the future."
The failure of Hsieh's trip comes somewhat as an embarrassment to the mayor, as he was hoping to upstage Taipei Mayor and media darling Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma successfully completed a five-day Hong Kong visit in February.
Hsieh wanted to make a point of the fact that he planned to travel to Hong Kong on a formal entry visa rather than a transit visa, as Ma did earlier this year.
When asked to comment on this, Hsieh responded that "such a comparison is unnecessary."
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