The US yesterday criticized Hong Kong's decision to deny a visa to Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
"We believe the decision in this case was not a constructive one," said Susan Stevenson, a spokeswoman for the US Consulate General in Hong Kong. She declined to comment further.
The rare criticism came three days after Ma told reporters that he would not be given a visa and that he was canceling plans to give a speech at Hong Kong University next week.
The school had invited Ma to speak about cultural and municipal affairs.
Hong Kong's government declined to say why Ma was denied a visa. Officials said it was a long-standing policy not to comment on individual cases.
Critics of the government have said that the decision would hurt Hong Kong's claim that it enjoys a wide degree of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" model. The former British colony has used the formula since returning to Chinese rule in 1997.
But Ma has suggested he was blocked from traveling to Hong Kong because of his past criticism of China's proposed anti-secession law.
Ma yesterday said he was asked by unidentified people in Hong Kong to cancel a trip there before he was allegedly denied a visa to the territory over his outspoken criticism of Chinese policy.
"Two groups of people from Hong Kong came to Taiwan in the past few weeks telling me there was a change to [my] trip. One group said it had something to do with my criticism of [China's] anti-secession law," Ma told reporters.
He said that one of the visitors asked him to cancel the trip and lie by saying he was "too busy with work."
But Ma added, "I told them that someone of my stature can't say that."
Ma said he didn't know if the groups were sent by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
Ma said he told the Hong Kong visitors that the proposed anti-secession law "wasn't necessary and was unwise."
The decision to keep Ma out of Hong Kong was perplexing for many because Ma has long been popular there, his birthplace.
Also see story:
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS