The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday denied an accusation by the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council that its Taiwanese counterpart in the territory was “interfering with Hong Kong’s internal affairs.”
The Hong Kong council leveled the accusation after Taipei’s Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council this month announced it would establish a Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office to facilitate humanitarian aid for Hong Kongers.
The new office is scheduled to begin operations on Wednesday.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The MAC yesterday asked the Hong Kong council to “not misinterpret” the government’s intentions.
The two Taiwan-Hong Kong councils were established in 2010 to facilitate economic and cultural exchanges.
They held annual exchanges for several years following their establishment, but ties have grown cold in the past few years, a source said.
The Hong Kong council yesterday criticized its similarly named Taiwanese counterpart, saying it had “unilaterally decided” to establish the humanitarian unit.
The office “runs counter to the intention in establishing” the two councils, it said.
“Providing shelter to rioters who destroy the stability of a prosperous Hong Kong is harmful to the people of Taiwan and provides them with no benefit,” it said.
It “strongly demanded” that the Taiwan council not do anything that “does not conform with” its purpose, it added.
It would not communicate with the Taiwan council on any of the actions being taken by the office, it said.
The MAC said that Taiwan’s concerns about the situation in Hong Kong echoed those of the international community.
However, Taipei has never sought to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs, the MAC said.
The new office’s purpose was to assist Hong Kongers with issues related to investment, study and employment in Taiwan, and emigration to Taiwan, the MAC said.
The issues were being handled within the scope of Taiwanese law and on the basis of humanitarian considerations, it said.
The office’s efforts would conform with the intentions behind the establishment of the Taiwan council, the MAC said, adding that Hong Kong authorities should work with Taiwanese authorities in the interest of the rights of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers.
Taiwanese authorities hope that Taiwan-Hong Kong relations would improve, but the Hong Kong council had unilaterally put off joint conferences, which harmed ties and cooperative efforts by the two councils, the MAC said.
The Hong Kong government should not, on the basis of unreasonable political considerations, interfere with the Taiwan council’s operations, it said.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS