{"id":116784,"date":"2021-06-20T06:55:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T06:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=116784"},"modified":"2021-06-20T06:55:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T06:55:16","slug":"taiwanese-staff-to-leave-hong-kong-office-in-one-china-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/taiwanese-staff-to-leave-hong-kong-office-in-one-china-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwanese staff to leave Hong Kong office in 'one China' row"},"content":{"rendered":"
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwanese staff working at the island\u2019s representative office in Hong Kong will begin leaving the Chinese-run city from Sunday, a senior official said, after the government there demanded its officials sign a document supporting Beijing\u2019s claim to Taiwan.<\/p> 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 began welcoming Hong Kongers to settle on the island.<\/p>\n Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary general of Taiwan\u2019s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said only local staff would remain at the office.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is because the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government continue to force our personnel stationed in Hong Kong to sign a \u2018one China commitment letter\u2019 to recognise \u2018one China\u2019,\u201d he said on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a political prerequisite for the visa renewal, we will of course not accept it!\u201d<\/p>\n China sees democratically-ruled Taiwan as part of \u201cone China\u201d and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.<\/p>\n Lin said Taiwan would never accept \u201cone China\u201d or \u201cone country, two systems\u201d, Beijing\u2019s way of running Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty it hopes to one day apply to the island.<\/p>\n 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 next month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not acceptable for us to be politically diminished,\u201d the official said, pointing to the request to sign the document.<\/p>\n In a statement earlier on Sunday, Taiwan\u2019s Mainland Affairs Council said that since July 2018 the Hong Kong government has \u201crepeatedly set unreasonable political conditions for staff visas for our Hong Kong office, demanding the signing of a \u2018One China Commitment Letter\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n Starting from Monday, the Hong Kong office will \u201cadjust its business handling method,\u201d it added, saying the office will maintain \u201cnecessary operations\u201d.<\/p>\n Taiwanese staff will not sign any such \u201cone China\u201d letter, it added.<\/p>\n Last month, Hong Kong suspended operations at its Taiwan representative office, blaming Taipei\u2019s \u201cgross\u201d interference in internal affairs, including with its offer to assist \u201cviolent\u201d protesters, accusations Taiwan rejected.<\/p>\n Macau\u2019s government followed suit on Wednesday.<\/p>\n