Taiwan's representative in Macau is to keep his job while his office has been renamed, the Mainland Affairs Council announced yesterday.
The two measures followed a week of high-level consideration about how to react to Macau's change in status from a Portuguese colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China.
The decision had been complicated by allegations of threats over the status of the Taiwan office and the behavior of its director, William Li (
Just before the handover ceremony on Dec. 19, the signs on the ninth and 15th floor of the building where the office is situated were moved inside their offices, and the ground floor lobby nameplate was turned around in order to hide the office's name.
The action was taken on the orders of Taiwan's chief representative William Li (
Li was, however, criticized in the MAC for diminishing Taiwan's stature by the move, and was recalled to Taipei to explain his actions.
Li has apologized for the gaffe.
The office, formerly called the Taipei Tourism and Trade Office, reopened yesterday as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center.
The name change, said MAC officials yesterday, was an expression of its wish that the government of the new Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) would follow in its footsteps by responding positively and flexibly to their presence there.
"Changing our name and expanding our functions is being done in consideration of Taiwan and Macau relations, and the hope the Macau government will respond in the same manner," said MAC Vice Chairman Lin Chong-pin (
The three signs for Taiwan's Macau office -- one in the lobby of the ground floor entrance to the building, and two others in the hallway outside the ninth and 15th floor offices -- were replaced with ones carrying the new name early yesterday morning.
Taiwan, meanwhile, has offered additional conveniences to Macau and mainland Chinese citizens alike, vowing to expand Taiwan visa services at the office.
Originally, visas for Taiwan had to be picked up in Hong Kong, but now the entire process can be taken care of in Macau, MAC officials have said.
Taiwan's positive response has been tagged to hopes that Macau authorities will not require citizens of Taiwan to apply for a special travel permit when visiting Macau.
Under Portuguese administration the colony was one of the few places in the world that Taiwanese could visit without obtaining a visa in advance.
The SAR government did say, however, that it was considering requiring Taiwanese to apply for the Taiwan Compatriot Visa or taibaozheng (
Edmund Ho, the SAR's chief executive, had previously suggested that this policy could be implemented following the handover, although he gave no date for the possible change.
Currently, ROC nationals can obtain a visa upon arrival in Macau.
Taiwan has previously suggested any acts deemed hostile to its interests could be met with countermeasures, such as denying Macau residents the right to work in Taiwan. Some 35,000 people from Macau currently work in Taiwan.
With the new name, Taiwan scholars and representatives are expected to be have increased access to public functions, which they were originally barred from because the former office was deemed a de facto embassy.
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