The Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office today officially opens, where it is to provide humanitarian assistance to Hong Kongers, after Beijing yesterday passed a controversial national security law for the territory.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) expressed dismay over China’s passage of the law, saying that Beijing has broken its pledge to allow Hong Kong to maintain a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years following its handover from the UK.
“I feel extremely disappointed [about the law’s passage], which means China did not keep its promise to Hong Kong,” Tsai said in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Beijing’s “broken promise” also showed that the “one country, two systems” model for Hong Kong and Macau, which the Chinese government has also proposed for Taiwan, is not feasible for the nation, she said.
Tsai said she hoped that people in Hong Kong could continue to fight to maintain their freedoms, democracy and human rights after the law is implemented.
She again pledged that Taiwan would help Hong Kongers, citing the launch of the office to help those who want to come to Taiwan.
The office is to provide one-stop services for Hong Kongers who wish to study, do business, invest or seek asylum in Taiwan.
Although the office is new, the laws and guidelines related to the services provided are no more accommodating to people from Hong Kong than they were in the past.
The national security law is widely seen as an effort by the Chinese government to take full control of Hong Kong after a year of pro-democracy protests there.
In the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China in 1984, Beijing promised Hong Kong “a high degree of autonomy” for at least 50 years after China regained control of the territory in 1997.
“One country, two systems” refers to a constitutional principle formulated by then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) in the early 1980s, who suggested that there would be only “one China,” but distinct Chinese regions, such as Hong Kong and Macau, could retain their own economic and administrative systems.
Meanwhile, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said that the city already has the resources to assist Hong Kongers wanting to work, study or live in Taipei.
The city has services in place to help new immigrants, and has now established an office specifically to assist newcomers from Hong Kong, he said, adding that Taipei has seen an influx of people from Hong Kong in the past few years.
In 2018, 4,148 people moved from Hong Kong to Taipei, and last year that number rose to 5,898, he said, adding that in the first four months of this year alone the figure was 2,383.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
BRIBERY CASE: President Tsai Ing-wen accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation as he said that he deeply regretted causing trouble for the president due to the investigation Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday resigned after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨). “I resigned from the post so that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would not be bothered by it anymore, and the prosecutors can investigate the case in a fair and just manner. I thank President Tsai once again for supporting me. May the country continue to prosper under her leadership,” Su Jia-chyuan said in a statement. The Presidential Office said that Tsai has accepted
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
‘CROSS-STRAIT CONSIDERATIONS’: Groups said that the Ministry of Education’s policies excluded Chinese and students should not be blocked over political issues The Taiwan International Student Movement yesterday said it would protest today outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei against a policy that excludes some Chinese students from returning to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June 17, the ministry has allowed foreign students from 19 “low risk” and “medium-low risk” countries and regions to enter Taiwan. On July 22, it announced that it was relaxing restrictions to include students from all countries and regions who are graduating this semester and on Wednesday it further expanded entry to students enrolled in degree programs. A letter sent by the ministry on Wednesday to universities did
The military last week sent “no small number” of Marine Corps officers to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) following reports of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill targeting the islands scheduled for this month. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Magazine published on Saturday last week, PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang (李大光) confirmed that the Chinese army was planning to stage a simulated invasion of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea this month. The islands comprise three atolls, with Pratas Island, at 1.74km2, being the largest. They lie southwest of Taiwan proper in the South
RSS