The government’s Hong Kong Humanitarian Aid project is to be implemented through a Taiwan-Hong Kong Interaction Office, which is to begin operations on July 1, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said yesterday.
The aid plan has been anticipated since China’s National People’s Congress last month endorsed national security legislation for Hong Kong, despite Beijing’s past promise that the territory would remain autonomous until 2047.
The new office is a special agency to assist Hong Kongers with study, investment and entrepreneurial interests, seeking employment or emigrating to Taiwan, Chen told a news briefing in Taipei as he unveiled the government’s plan for helping Hong Kongers.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Established under the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Cooperation Council, the new office would also assist international companies setting up branches in Taiwan, he added.
The office is to render humanitarian aid to Hong Kongers, while complying with Taiwan’s laws and upholding national security, he said.
The project’s implementation fully embodies the government’s support of Hong Kongers’ efforts to uphold human rights and defend the values of democracy, and its goodwill toward them, he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday also reaffirmed her commitment to support Hong Kongers.
Whether reacting to the territory’s extradition bill last year or the national security legislation being imposed by Beijing, Taiwanese have empathized with Hong Kongers’ insistence on freedom and democracy, she wrote on Facebook.
In addition to condemnation of China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s democracy and human rights, the nation would continue to employ institutional power to provide Hong Kongers with practical support and assistance, she wrote.
After a Chinese academic cited Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as a “pro-unification force,” MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that the council does not respond to the opinions of individuals.
The article, written by Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies deputy director Ni Yongjie (倪永杰), urged Beijing to utilize forces in Taiwan that advocate unification and “guide them toward the path of cross-strait negotiations.”
The council calls on the public not to fall into traps set by the Chinese Communist Party, which attempts to expedite unification through means disguised as “democratic negotiations,” Chiu said.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS