The chairman of the DPP had to scrap a proposed visit he was making to Hong Kong this weekend because his visa application was not approved, aides said yesterday.
Frank Hsieh (
``It's a shame, because Hsieh was hoping to exchange ideas on city management with Hong Kong,'' Hung said.
Hong Kong officials did not immediately return a reporter's inquiry on the matter, but Hsieh's aides suggested Beijing had influenced a politically motivated decision.
Hung said Hong Kong's handling of the matter raises questions about the autonomy the former British colony is supposed to enjoy after returning four years ago to Chin-ese sovereignty under an arrangement dubbed ``one country, two systems.''
``If the situation is like this, it's very difficult to be convinced that there is really a one country, two systems principle,'' Hung said.
Visits by Taiwanese officials to Hong Kong have been a delicate issue since the handover.
Although the governance of Hong Kong is basically left in the hands of Hong Kong officials, its leaders are often regarded as being timid about anything that could ruffle their bosses in Beijing.
In March, local critics accused the Hong Kong government of imposing pressure on two senior officials from Taiwan not to say or do anything that might embarrass Hong Kong while they were making a visit there.
But Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma's party has advocated eventual unification between Taiwan and China -- while the DPP has called for n independent Taiwan.
Although President Chen Shui-bian (
RSS