Hong Kong should offer the Taiwanese people a reasonable explanation as to why it refused to issue a visa to Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"We feel sorry about what happened to Mayor Ma and would like to point out that the incident clearly signifies the deterioration of Taiwan-Hong Kong relations and that the Hong Kong government should be held fully responsible for it," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a press conference held after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
PHOTO: CNA
While it remained unclear as to why the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region rejected Ma's visa application, speculation was rife that it was related to Ma's recent criticism of the "anti-secession law" the Chinese government is drafting.
Ma said that he himself did not know why the Hong Kong government rejected his visa application and that it would be a very "unwise decision" if it was because of his criticism of the "anti-secession law."
"Maybe the Hong Kong government doesn't want me to go because it's too cold," he said jokingly.
"If it had something to do my remark about the law, it would run counter to the Chinese government's intention to convince the Taiwanese people to trust the `one China, two systems' model," he said.
When asked whether he considered the incident to be suppression by the Chinese government, Ma said that he did not think so, but "it sure feels upsetting to be black-listed" by the Hong Kong government.
"Honestly speaking, I'm very much shocked by the fact that I cannot go back to my birthplace to attend a cultural activity related to city affairs," he said.
Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News quoted unidentified government officials as saying that Ma's visa was denied because he recently criticized China's proposed anti-secession law.
The paper added that the timing of Ma's visit would be too sensitive as China's legislature prepares to vote on the law in March.
Taiwan contends that the measure could be used as a pretext for an attack.
Ma has visited Hong Kong twice since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The politician is popular in Hong Kong because he was born there.
Ma favors eventual unification with China, and has been critical of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) efforts to create a new Taiwanese identity separate from China's. Chen is reviled by Chinese leaders.
Timothy Wong, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Ma's visa was rejected because Chinese authorities want to stamp out any ``inappropriate'' remarks on the planned anti-secession law.
"Beijing is escalating its pressure to the utmost level. There is no gray area," he said.
He added that China rejected Ma's visit to make clear that tensions across the Taiwan Strait remain serious.
"They don't want to send the message to the outside world that the severe situation of cross-straits relations has improved," he told a radio talk show yesterday.
According to a CNA story last night, Hong Kong's Constitutional Affairs Bureau director Stephen Lam (
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS