Two properties owned by the Taiwanese government in Hong Kong are at risk of being confiscated by the Hong Kong government, a source said on Sunday.
The source said the concerns first arose after seven officials were recalled from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in June, after they refused to sign a pledge to observe Beijing’s “one China” principle.
“Although Beijing has so far not made things difficult for remaining employees at the office, if the Taiwan-Hong Kong relationship worsens further, it is not inconceivable it will confiscate the properties,” the source said. “It would be better to have a plan in place sooner than later.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Beijing has accused Taiwanese officials of involvement in the protests that rocked Hong Kong from 2019 to last year, and therefore it would not be unexpected if it took a further step and seized Taiwanese property in the territory, the source said.
Citing an example of what could happen, the source said that Beijing had initially interfered with the US’ sale of a consulate housing complex in December last year, with the sale only going through two months later after negotiations between Beijing and Washington.
The Taiwanese government owns one property in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong’s Kowloon District, which is being used by the Overseas Chinese Culture and Education Foundation to recruit students for universities in Taiwan.
It also owns one property in Hong Kong’s New Territories, which was set up as a school through funding from the Ministry of Education in 1992, the source said, adding that the Taiwanese government only owns the building, while the land is owned by the Hong Kong Government.
The building, worth NT$400 million (US$14.36 million), is being rented to Hong Kong Baptist University, the source said.
Under New Territories regulations, the Taiwanese government can continue renting the land the building is on until June 30, 2047, the source said.
The Mainland Affairs Council has invited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Property Administration to discuss how to deal with the properties, but there have been disagreements on how to proceed, the source said.
“The Mainland Affairs Council sees the properties as ‘overseas properties,’ but the National Property Administration insists they be treated as domestic properties,” the source said. “The National Property Administration does not want the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved with the properties.”
Confusion over the issue can be traced back to the handover of Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, after which properties in Hong Kong became the responsibility of the Mainland Affairs Council, the source said.
However, Article 29 of the National Property Act (國有財產法) stipulates that national property in other countries “shall not be disposed of without the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the agreement of the Ministry of Finance.”
The act allows for some exceptions, in which cases the sale or the disposal of the property should be reported to the two ministries.
‘SUSPENDED’: The restrictions are likely to have a greater effect on seafood producers, as exports of food and drinks to China had already decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic China’s customs administration late on Monday announced bans on more than 100 Taiwanese food brands ahead of a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Beijing said that the blacklisted exporters — which include tea, honey and seafood producers — failed to renew their export registration and could therefore only sell their products until the end of this month. The exporters may submit additional documents this month, Food and Drug Administration Director Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said, adding that the agency would help them complete their registrations. The bans might be politically motivated, as Taiwanese manufacturers were treated differently than
MISSILE PATHS: Certain information on the Chinese missile fire was not disclosed to maintain secrecy over military intelligence-gathering capabilities, the MND said Military experts yesterday speculated on the implication of the government’s tight-lipped response and the lack of air-raid sirens during the first day of China’s military drills the previous day. On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched 11 Dongfeng-series ballistic missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan, a day after US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure from the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that China fired nine missiles toward Taiwan, including four that flew over Taiwan proper. However, China’s exhibition of force failed to terrorize the local populace, because
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Instead of using positive propaganda about China to attract Taiwanese, the CCP is now focusing on negative hype about Taiwan, a researcher said China has changed tactics in its cognitive warfare campaign against Taiwan, now favoring divisive negative stories about Taiwanese society, rather than positive stories about China, an Academia Sinica researcher wrote in a recently published paper. “In the past, when its economy was strong, China liked to use positive propaganda, including proposing a number of incentives and measures to attract Taiwanese,” Hung Tzu-wei (洪子偉), an associate research fellow at the academy’s Institute of European and American Studies, said on Friday. However, with its economy disrupted by the US-China trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, China has gradually turned toward “mobilizing
Legislators across party lines yesterday welcomed US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, marking the first time in 25 years that an incumbent US House speaker has visited the nation. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) cited the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) support for Pelosi’s visit — including from senior party members KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — as evidence that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) foreign diplomacy is on the right course. Pelosi’s visit has special meaning for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region as a whole, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. The