Visas of all remaining Taiwanese personnel at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Hong Kong are to expire before the end of this year, raising concerns that its operations will be seriously affected.
During a legislative session on Monday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that there are eight Taiwanese officials remaining at the TECO.
However, the office has activated a “proxy mechanism” so that there will be no leadership vacuum in its departments, Chiu said.
The 55 locally hired personnel are doing their best to maintain the office’s normal operations, such as visa issuance and document authentication, he said.
Asked by legislators whether the visas of the eight Taiwanese officials would be renewed, Chiu said that they have applied for renewals with Hong Kong authorities in accordance with the regulations.
However, the Hong Kong side has yet to give a positive response to their applications, he said.
He urged the Hong Kong authorities to respect an agreement signed by the two sides in 2011 on the exchange of offices.
TECO, which is operated by the council, was established in July 2011.
It replaced the Chung Hwa Travel Service, which had carried out similar functions for more than four decades at that time.
The office has lacked a director since 2018, as Hong Kong has yet to issue a visa to Lu Chang-shui (盧長水).
TECO Acting Director-General Kao Ming-tsun (高銘村) and three other Taiwanese officials last year were forced to return to Taiwan after the Hong Kong government refused to extend their visas.
Media reports at the time said that they were denied visa extensions for refusing to sign an affidavit recognizing Beijing’s “one China” principle.
Meanwhile, Chiu urged Beijing to stop its military coercion against Taiwan and to settle differences on cross-strait issues through dialogue.
He reiterated that there is no need for Taiwan to discuss the so-called “1992 consensus.”
This is because by Beijing’s definition, the essence of the “consensus” is the so-called “one China” principle, which is not acceptable for the majority of Taiwanese, he said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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