Taiwan rejects visa of 2 Hong Kong officials amid rising bilateral tensions

Taiwan has rejected the visa permit for two Hong Kong Officials, the city’s government revealed on July 21. This comes as Taipei has doubled down on its stance against China’s national security law and overtly offered help to Hong Kongers.

According to the Hong Kong’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the staffers, both from Hong Kong Economic Trade and cultural office, have been sent back home after their permits for residences in Taiwan were rejected. On the other hand, Taiwan’s Policy Mainland Affairs Council has yet not confirmed visa rejections.

However, it asserted that Taiwan needed to react accordingly in order to “defend the nation’s dignity based on equal and bilateral consideration” following “unreasonable limitations” set by Hong Kong authorities. It is yet not clear if their existing visas were denied or the documents related to a new application were rejected.  

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China-Taiwan relations 

Taiwan, which has spoken openly about China's policy considered itself an independent country. However, Beijing has long regarded Taiwan to be a part of China's sovereign territory and has not hidden its ambitions to take back the island.  According to reports, Taiwan has existed under the threat of Chinese invasion ever since the island split from the mainland after a civil war in 1949.

With the exponential growth of China’s People’s Liberation Army, Taiwan finds itself outgunned. Over the years, China has repeatedly tried to isolate Taiwan from the rest of the world by using its enormous influence to convince other nation-states that Taiwan is a part of China.

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Image credits: AP