The Hong Kong government announced Tuesday (May 18, 2021) without prior warning that the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan would temporarily cease operations with immediate effect. A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong government said the decision was not related to the gradual deterioration of Taiwan’s New Guan (Chinese communist virus) epidemic, but did not give a specific reason for the temporary closure of the office or say when or if it would reopen. Taiwan says it will continue to maintain its counterpart in Hong Kong to provide services to Taiwanese in the city.
According to a Voice of America report today, the Hong Kong SAR government suddenly announced the suspension of its office in Taiwan. The government of the Republic of China expressed deep regret over the Hong Kong government’s move.
Relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong have been deteriorating since Beijing pushed through a national security law in Hong Kong on June 30 last year. Taiwan has established the Taiwan-Hong Kong Service Exchange Office to provide counseling services and humanitarian assistance to people fleeing Hong Kong to Taiwan. The move is seen by Beijing as an act to undermine national unification.
Last July, the acting director of the Taiwan office in Hong Kong, Gao Mingcun, had to leave Hong Kong after refusing to sign a pledge to abide by the “one-China principle” and failing to get his visa renewed. Then, on July 21, the Hong Kong government said Taiwan had rejected the visa applications of two Hong Kong officials.
According to the report, last week, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said eight staff members of the Taiwan office in Hong Kong were not granted visa renewals and had to leave by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Taipei has stopped issuing work visas to staff at the Hong Kong office in Taiwan, citing reciprocity and the need to maintain national dignity.
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