TAIPEI 鈥 Taiwanese staff working at the island鈥檚 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鈥檚 claim to Taiwan.听
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.听
Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary general of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said only local staff would remain at the office.听
鈥淭his is because the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government continue to force our personnel stationed in Hong Kong to sign a听鈥榦ne China commitment letter鈥櫶齮o听recognize听鈥榦ne China,鈥欌澨齢e said on his Facebook page.听
鈥淎s a political prerequisite for the visa renewal, we will of course not accept it!鈥听
China sees democratically听ruled Taiwan as part of听鈥渙ne China鈥澨齛nd has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.听
Mr.听Lin said Taiwan would never accept听鈥渙ne China鈥澨齩r听鈥渙ne country, two systems,鈥澨鼴eijing鈥檚 way of running Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty it hopes to one day apply to the island.听
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.听
In a statement earlier on Sunday, Taiwan鈥檚 Mainland Affairs Council said that since July 2018 the Hong Kong government has听鈥渞epeatedly set unreasonable political conditions for staff visas for our Hong Kong office, demanding the signing of a听鈥極ne China Commitment Letter.鈥欌听
Starting from Monday, the Hong Kong office will听鈥渁djust its business handling method,鈥澨齣t added, saying the office will maintain听鈥渘ecessary operations.鈥听
Taiwanese staff will not sign any such听鈥渙ne China鈥澨齦etter, it added.听
Last month, Hong Kong suspended operations at its Taiwan representative office, blaming Taipei鈥檚听鈥済ross鈥澨齣nterference in internal affairs, including with its offer to assist听鈥渧iolent鈥澨齪rotesters, accusations Taiwan rejected.听
Macau鈥檚 government followed suit on Wednesday. 鈥斕Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee/Reuters听听
