For decades, Hong Kong served as a bridge between China and Taiwan. Now, that appears to be just one more thing that is changing in the former British colony.
China’s insistence that Taiwanese officials as a condition of stay in Hong Kong sign a statement agreeing that both sides belong to “one China” adds pressure on Taipei to close representative office in the territory.
The decision not only potentially impacts millions of people who travel between the two places each year, it also chips away at the territory’s role as a gateway from China to the democratic world.
Photo: Reuters
The move advances two goals of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平): punishing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for her refusal to accept the “one China” framework and curbing perceived sources of outside interference in Hong Kong.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong and its predecessor agency have provided Taiwan with a diplomatic toehold in the territory for more than five decades, outlasting Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.
“This development is a reflection of the tighter change in mainland China’s policy toward Taiwan,” said Sonny Lo (盧兆興), an academic and political commentator in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong is now a battleground of geopolitical struggle between the US and China on the one hand, and between the mainland and Taiwan on the other.”
While Taiwan and Hong Kong have both long been proxies for disputes between China and the West, tensions have flared as Beijing grows more confident about asserting its authority and the US attempts to check a rising rival.
Tsai has courted support from US President Donald Trump, while offering to help resettle Hong Kong democracy protesters fleeing in the wake of tough national security legislation approved by Xi last month.
“In the past, Hong Kong was not only a buffer for cross-strait relations, it had been a window for global countries to engage and interact with China,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy-Secretary General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said in an interview on July 7. “But now the city may be just another Chinese city.”
Efforts to increase pressure on the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office came to light last week after its acting head, Kao Ming-tsun (高銘村), refused to sign the “one China” statement and returned home.
A number of more junior staffers are also encountering visa difficulties and Taiwan is withholding the renewal of work permits for staff in Hong Kong’s representative office in Taipei, said a senior Taiwanese official who asked not to be identified.
As a result, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which was first established as the Chung Hwa Travel Service in 1966, might soon find it difficult to operate.
Its closure would deal another blow to a series of agreements between Taipei and Beijing that helped expand trade and paved the way for the unprecedented meeting between then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Xi in Singapore in 2015.
“The DPP and Taiwan’s separatist forces spare no effort to support the US strategy of playing the ‘Hong Kong card,’” the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) People’s Daily said in a commentary on Sunday.
“They, on one hand, criticize the practice of ‘one country, two systems’ in the city to attack their own political rivals and win votes, while on the other hand support Hong Kong’s opposition forces and provide them assistance and training,” the commentary added.
Requiring representatives to sign the “one China” pledge shows Beijing is taking a more direct role in Taiwan’s relations with the territory, the Taiwanese official said.
Taiwan is not commenting publicly in an attempt to smooth relations, but China’s new posture could eventually force Taipei to withdraw the more favorable treatment Hong Kong residents received compared with other non-Taiwanese, the person added.
Although the move might not have any immediate ramifications on the almost 6.5 million annual number of passengers traveling between Taipei and Hong Kong — one of the busiest flight routes in the world, according to Routesonline — it could have a greater impact on Hong Kongers looking to study or emigrate there, because they would now need to apply to Taipei.
It could also eventually lead to Hong Kongers, who do not need a visa to visit Taiwan and can simply apply for entry permits upon arrival, being treated more similarly to mainland Chinese residents, who do require a visa and are subject to a quota, said Chan Che-po (陳?博), an associate professor of political science at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, who has studied Hong Kong-Taiwan relations.
“In the future, Hong Kong won’t enjoy these privileges,” Chan said.
It could also have “tremendous” implications as the security legislation freezes up contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong political parties, student exchanges and cooperation between non-governmental organizations, which interact frequently, Lo said.
One key question was how broadly the Hong Kong officials would apply the new “one China” requirement.
Ties between Taipei and Beijing have worsened since Tsai’s re-election in January, including disagreements over China’s efforts to limit Taiwan’s participation in world health bodies.
Taiwan has also become an issue in the US presidential election, with former US vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, challenging Trump’s record on support for human rights in China.
“None of this bodes well for cross-strait peace,” said Mark Harrison, a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at Australia’s University of Tasmania. “But Beijing is no doubt waiting to see the outcome of the US presidential election before taking any more significant actions.”
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
RSS