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:
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS