The acting chief of Taiwan’s representative office in Macau, Chen Chia-hung, has left the self-ruled island and returned home after being denied a visa extension for refusing to sign a document that recognises China’s sovereignty over Macau.
Radio Taiwan International reported Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) saying on Tuesday that the “future situation” of their relations “is not optimistic” and that Macau authorities were “disrespectful and unfriendly.” It added that four other Taiwanese employees, whose visas are still valid, will remain in Macau and keep the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) running.
A report by Taiwan News mentioned that of the remaining four employees at the TECO, three would return to Taiwan in August and September, while one has been allowed to stay until the end of October 2022. Taiwan’s representative office on the semi-autonomous island risks facing complete closure if Macau does not issue visas for Taiwanese staff before November 2022.
A week ago, seven Taiwan’s trade office employees in Hong Kong were also forced to leave the financial hub on June 22 after they expressed opposition to signing a similar “One China Commitment Letter,” which acknowledged Taiwan to be a part of China.
Following the latest development, Taiwan’s office in Macau has now met a similar fate. Taiwan News further reported that the Taiwanese government is preparing to maintain the TECO’s services in the former Portuguese colony by hiring locals to run the office in the possible event of a closure. A candidate has already been found but currently remains unnamed to avoid opposition from the Macau government. The same solution has been adopted to run the TECO in Hong Kong.
Macau and Hong Kong, which are both semi-autonomous regions under the administration at Beijing, abide by the mainland’s view that self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and must be seized by force if necessary.
In protest of Taiwan’s support for pro-democracy activists, both islands have closed their respective trade offices in Taipei over the past two months. The Straits Times reported that Macau announced the closure of The Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan last week without giving a reason, but the wording of its statement was almost identical to Hong Kong’s statement from last month. The MAC criticised Hong Kong’s action through a press statement saying that it “sternly” cautions and condemns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Hong Kong government for this aggression.
While Hong Kong and Macau desire some level of autonomy from mainland China, the latest conflict has taken Taiwan’s relations with the semi-autonomous regions to an all-time low.