The Macanese government said it plans to declare the Taiwan-owned Sun Yat-sen Memorial House a heritage site, which would give the Chinese territory priority to buy the property when it is sold.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) in September last year said it was considering selling the property if all the remaining Taiwanese officials at the Office of Macau Affairs were forced to leave the territory.
Since 2019, Taiwanese officials and contractors working in the office have been asked to sign an affidavit recognizing Beijing’s “one China” principle as a precondition for a visa, MAC sources have said.
Photo: screengrab from Facebook
The office’s three remaining staff were reportedly asked to sign the pledge to extend their visas past Oct. 30 last year, leading to fears that the office would be forced to close.
Although they were granted renewals without signing the pledge, the office remains without a leader after former acting director Chen Chia-hung (陳佳鴻) returned to Taiwan in 2021 after refusing to sign the document, the MAC said.
As it is unclear whether they would be granted visas again, the three remaining staff have been asked to stay in Macau until their current visas expire, an official said on Monday on condition of anonymity.
However, the Macanese government said it is planning to declare the Sun Yat-sen Memorial House a heritage site, reportedly to ensure it becomes government property once it is sold.
Macanese Cultural Affairs Bureau President Leong Wai-man (梁惠敏) on March 16 said that the property is among six properties that it is to propose as protected heritage sites.
Under Macau’s Cultural Heritage Protection Law, the territory has a pre-emptive right to heritage sites, meaning it would have priority to purchase the property when it is sold.
There is no concern in the short term, as the office is operating normally and there is no plan to sell, but the new designation could affect aspects of its management, such as the ability to alter the structure, the official said.
The property has significant historic value, the official said, adding that they could understand the designation.
However, they did not rule out political aims in seeking to seize the property.
The memorial house, built as a residence for Republic of China (ROC) founder Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) first wife in 1912, is now a museum to Sun and the history of the Chinese republican revolution.
Worth an estimated NT$140 million (US$4.55 million), the 439.67m2 building is the only place in China where the ROC flag is displayed officially.
Although it is owned by the MAC, the property is registered under the name of a Singaporean company.
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