Chen Ming-tong (L), Minister of the Council for Continental Affairs of Taiwan (MAC) and Katharine Chang, President of the Council for Economic and Cultural Cooperation of Taiwan-Hong Kong, unveil a poster during a launch ceremony of the Exchange Office of Taiwan-Hong Kong and Services in Taipei on July 1, 2020.
Sam Yeh | AFP | fake pictures
Taiwan has opened an office to help handle requests from Hong Kong people who want to resettle on the island.
It comes as China passed a new national security law in Hong Kong this week that raised concerns about the erosion of freedoms and rights in the special administrative region.
The Taiwan-Hong Kong Exchange and Services Office in Taipei opened on Wednesday. It was the same day that Hong Kong celebrated the 23rd anniversary of its transfer of sovereignty from Great Britain to China on July 1, 1997.
On Tuesday night, China implemented Hong Kong’s controversial national security law. Taiwan’s foreign ministry has said it “strongly condemns” the legislation.
“Hong Kong’s national security law reflects a complete denial of the Chinese Communist Party’s commitment to delivering Hong Kong that its way of life ‘would remain unchanged for 50 years,'” the Foreign Ministry said. Taiwan in a statement on Tuesday.
“The law will seriously undermine Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, significantly restrict freedom of expression and judicial independence, decimate the rule of law, erode core values such as freedom, human rights and the rule of law, and cause a great social unrest, while also affecting peace, stability and prosperity in the region, “he said.
‘One country, two systems’
Hong Kong, a former British colony, is governed by the “one country, two systems” principle that was to last 50 years, or until 2047. It was part of the agreement signed by the United Kingdom and China when the territory was handed over. in 1997.
Some world leaders, including the United Kingdom’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dominic Raab, and the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have openly spoken out against the law. They argue that it undermines the freedoms and autonomy promised to Chinese territory when it was handed over.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen promised assistance to Hong Kongers in May after Beijing proposed the law.
In June, the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council introduced the Hong Kong Humanitarian Aid Project, which would be responsible for operating the Taiwan-Hong Kong office.
The office will provide special consultations and assistance to Hong Kong people in the areas of study, employment, investment, entrepreneurship, immigration and residence, the council said. It will also help multinational companies and international corporations relocate from Hong Kong to Taiwan.
“The Office will also pragmatically handle issues related to humanitarian assistance and care for Hong Kong citizens based on national security considerations,” he added.
Support from Taiwan
About 200 Hong Kong people have already fled to Taiwan since pro-democracy protests erupted in China’s special administrative territory last year, Reuters reported, citing rights groups.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Dr. Joseph Wu said in a podcast with the Australian expert group Lowy Institute that the island is on the side of democracy with Hong Kong.
“For those people who come to Taiwan for political reasons, or who fear political persecution in China or Hong Kong, we will try to provide assistance in a very discreet manner,” Wu said last month before the national security law was passed. .
However, he added: “We do not want complications for their lives or for Taiwan’s relations with China.”
The point underscored the complexity of Taipei’s relationship with Beijing. China claims that Taiwan is self-governing as part of its territory, but the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan.
Hong Kong is an international financial center and the implementation of China’s national security law is viewed cautiously by some companies amid concerns about increased city oversight.
Before the law was passed, more than 80% of American companies in Hong Kong surveyed by the United States Chamber of Commerce said they were concerned about China’s plan to impose the new national security law on the city.
In May, some wealthy Chinese were already looking to park their assets in other wealth centers such as Singapore, Switzerland and London, Reuters reported, citing bankers and industry sources.
A major government agency in Taiwan, the Continental Affairs Council, said in its press release that Taipei “hopes to attract capital and talent from Hong Kong to strengthen and expand Taiwan’s economic development.”
Taiwan may be next
Taiwan is widely sympathetic to Hong Kong, as the island faces an increasingly aggressive China.
The relationship between China and Taiwan is complex.
The Nationalist Party, or KMT, a major political party in Taiwan now, had ruled China for decades before losing to The Chinese Communist Party in a civil war. In 1949, the KMT fled to Taiwan (now officially called the Republic of China) where it was the ruling party for more than 50 years.
The Chinese Communist Party, which currently governs China, has never governed Taiwan. He claims that the autonomous island is part of the continent that must meet with China.
A Pew Research Center survey released in May showed that Taiwanese, particularly the younger ones, do not identify with mainland China.
Despite political differences, people and companies on the island maintain close economic and social ties to the mainland, and Beijing has been trying to win over Taiwan.
The Chinese government has also been trying to sell Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” framework to Taipei for years.
However, Taiwanese are even more suspicious of Beijing after last year’s protests in Hong Kong to call for greater democracy. That helped Tsai of the independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party secure his second term during the January presidential election.
Beijing views Tsai as a separatist and has cut official communications with Taiwan since 2016, when it first won.
China has recently been conducting a series of military exercises near Taiwan, “disturbing” the island, Taiwan Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang said last week.
“If the Chinese government can take Hong Kong and tear down Hong Kong’s freedom and human rights, I think Taiwan will be next,” said Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, on the Lowy Institute podcast.
While Hong Kong was a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule, Taiwan is not under the jurisdiction of China, according to Wu.
“And, therefore, we call on international society to view Taiwan as an outpost of democracy in the fight against the expansion of authoritarianism. We are a front-line state and we cannot allow China to take over Taiwan,” he said. on the podcast
.
