Taiwanese staff to leave Hong Kong office in 'one China' row
20 June, 2021
Taiwanese staff working at the island's representative office in Hong Kong will start leaving the Chinese-run city from Sunday (Jun 20), a senior official said, after the government there demanded its officials sign a document supporting Beijing's claim to Taiwan.
Chinese-ruled Hong Kong has become another bone of contention between Taipei and Beijing, especially after Taiwan lambasted a security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing and started welcoming Hong Kongers to settle on the island.
Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary-general of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said only local staff would remain at the office.
"This is as the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government continue steadily to force our personnel stationed in Hong Kong to sign a 'one China commitment letter' to discover 'one China'," he said on his Facebook page.
"As a political prerequisite for the visa renewal, we will of course not accept it!"
China sees Taiwan within "one China" and hasn't renounced the application of force to bring the island under its control.
Lin said Taiwan could not accept "one China" or "one country, two systems", Beijing's method of running Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty it hopes to one day connect with the island.
A senior Taiwan official familiar with the matter told Reuters seven Taiwan officials will return on Sunday afternoon, with the last remaining official to come back after visa expiry the following month.
In a statement previously Sunday, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said that since July 2018 the Hong Kong government has "repeatedly set unreasonable political conditions for staff visas for our Hong Kong office, demanding the signing of a 'One China Commitment Letter'".
Beginning with Monday, the Hong Kong office will "adjust its business handling method," it added, saying any office will maintain "necessary operations".
Taiwanese staff will not sign any such "one China" letter, it added.
Last month, Hong Kong suspended businesses at its Taiwan representative office, blaming Taipei's "gross" interference in internal affairs, including using its offer to aid "violent" protesters, accusations Taiwan rejected.
Macau's government followed suit on Wednesday.
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