HONG KONG: Taiwan’s top representative to Hong Kong returned home after refusing to sign a statement supporting the “one China” principle, the news site Up Media reported, in another example of the city’s tighter enforcement of Beijing’s policies.
Kao Ming-tsun, the acting head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong, returned to Taiwan on Thursday after Hong Kong authorities didn’t renew his visa, Up Media said, citing an unnamed official at the agency. The head of the office has been barred from formally taking up the post for two years because of visa-related issues.
A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong government on Friday referred requests for information to the Immigration Department, which said it doesn’t comment on individual cases. The Mainland Affairs Office in Taipei didn’t answer calls about the Up Media report.
China has sought to isolate Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president of the island in 2016 and refused to endorse Beijing’s position that both sides belong to “one China”.
Hong Kong has been at the centre of their disputes, with Tsai’s government supporting pro-democracy protests last year and, more recently, warning about the dangers of a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the former British colony.
The law allows authorities investigating national security matters to require “foreign and Taiwan political organisations and agents” to disclose personal details among other information in Hong Kong, which the Taiwan government has condemned as excessive. It also allows sentences as long as life in prison for people who commit serious acts of secession or sedition.
Taiwan’s government has advised its citizens to avoid unnecessary trips to Hong Kong since the law was passed, and said that, for national security reasons, it would strengthen scrutiny of Hong Kong and Macau investment funds with links to China.
The Mainland Affairs Council said at a briefing on Thursday that it wouldn’t halt operations of the local office and would adopt necessary, forceful countermeasures if its rights were violated.
A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry said Friday that she wasn’t aware of the visa incident. “‘One China’ is a fact and recognised by the international community, so how come some in Taiwan would say it’s an unnecessary political obstacle?” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
