Hong Kong's top immigration official on Thursday defended the territory's visa policy for Taiwanese officials, saying the special administrative region (SAR) would continue to keep them out if it disagreed with the visit's purpose.
Regina Ip, Hong Kong's secretary for security, said in Washington where she is on a week-long visit that Hong Kong operates independently of Beijing in its visa policies, but does tailor its visa decisions to comply with its "one-China" policy.
A number of Taiwanese officials recently have had to cancel trips to Hong Kong because of long delays in getting visa approval.
Kaoshiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
More recently, officials of the Council of Agriculture, including Vice Chairman Lee Chien-chuan (
Ip told reporters that "normally, the decision on whether to allow somebody to enter is a function of time, place and purpose. It really depends on the purpose of the visit and the type of activities the person applying intends to undertake, and an assessment of whether the visit would be in Hong Kong's interest," she said.
"There's no question of visas being denied because of Beijing's objections," she said. "But we do act in accordance with the `one-China' policy, which means that Taiwan officials as individuals are welcome to come to Hong Kong.
"But if they come to Hong Kong to undertake official activities in their capacity as individuals, the policy Hong Kong has adopted [since] before the handover [to China in 1997] is in strict accordance with the `one-China' policy." she said.
"And the Taiwan authorities are well aware of this," she said.
Ip said that Taiwanese officials often used Taiwan's news media to write stories that put pressure on Hong Kong when officials seek visas to visit the territory. She said that, for instance, Hong Kong never actually rejected Hsieh's application and that Hong Kong learned about his decision not to make the trip from the Taiwanese press.
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