The Mainland Affairs Council is closely monitoring if the authorities in Macau would try to force three remaining Taiwanese officials in the Office of Macau Affairs to sign a pledge to recognize the “one China” principle as a condition for them to receive a visa extension.
The three officials have all applied to extend their visas. Their applications have yet to be approved, the council said.
The last Taiwanese official is allowed to stay in Macau until Oct. 30 when their visa expires.
Photo: Reuters
Since 2019, Taiwanese officials and contractors working in the Office of Macau Affairs have been asked to sign an affidavit recognizing Beijing’s “one China” principle as a precondition for a visa, council sources said.
Those refusing to comply would be denied entry to Macau or their visas would not be extended, they said.
As China is getting ready to celebrate its National Day on Oct. 1, the government in Macau is very likely to try to force the three Taiwanese officials to sign the “one China” pledge, council sources said.
The post of director at the office in Macau has remained vacant since Chen Hsueh-huai (陳雪懷) retired in 2019.
As the requirement to sign a “one China” pledge has made it impossible to appoint a new director, the council had asked the Taiwanese officials whose visas have yet to expire to serve as acting directors since then.
In June last year, former acting director of the Office of Macau Affairs Chen Chia-hung (陳佳鴻) returned to Taiwan after refusing to sign the “one China” pledge.
The office would be left with only Macanese employees if the three Taiwanese officials in Macau are forced to leave, the council said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) yesterday said that the council does not need to wait until the final day to vacate the office in Macau.
“The ‘one China’ principle is designed to destroy the Republic of China and force Taiwanese to recognize the People’s Republic of China as the suzerain. Taiwan and China are two nations separated by the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese officials will never sign such a pledge. Instead of waiting until the last day, the council needs to prepare for the possible outcome in advance, because there is no way that Taiwanese officials can be stationed in Macau without a visa,” Wang said.
Meanwhile, the council is considering selling the Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial House in Macau if Macau refuses to extend the visas of the three remaining officials.
The council has full ownership of the memorial house, a property of the government registered under the name of a Singaporean firm.
The property with an area of 439.67m2 is valued at about NT$140 million (US$4.54 million), the council said, adding that it is the only place in China where Taiwan’s national flag can be displayed.
The council is leaning toward selling the property in case Beijing confiscates it after the last Taiwanese officials leave.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
Taiwan yesterday said it was looking forward to attending an upcoming memorial in Japan to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a day after the Japanese city said it had retracted its previous decision to not invite Taiwan to the event. The case has been dealt with by Taiwan’s representative office in Fukuoka and the Nagasaki City Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The ministry would decide who to send to the Aug. 9 event once it receives the invitation, it added. The ministry made the remarks following a Japanese media report on Saturday that said Nagasaki Mayor
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office