In this file photo, an audience waves Taiwanese flags during the National Day celebrations in Taipei on October 10, 2018. Reuters/File
TAIPEI: The acting chief of Taiwan’s representative office in Macau has returned home after refusing to sign a document recognising China’s sovereignty over the self-ruled island, Taipei said on Tuesday.
“The future situation is not optimistic,” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement, calling the Macau authorities “disrespectful and unfriendly”.
It said four other Taiwanese employees whose visas are still valid will remain in the semi-autonomous city to keep the office running.
It comes a week after seven employees of Taiwan’s trade office in Hong Kong left the financial hub following their refusal to sign a similar “one China pledge” acknowledging Taiwan as part of China.
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Official forced to return from Macau
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Acting head of Taiwan office in Macao forced home
06/29/2021 12:33 PM
The building where Taiwan s representative office in Macao is located. Image from Google Maps
Taipei, June 29 (CNA) The acting head of Taiwan s representative office in Macau has been forced to return home after the Macao government refused to grant him a visa extension, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Monday.
Chen Chia-hung (陳佳鴻) was not granted a visa extension because he refused to sign an affidavit recognizing Beijing s one China principle, and he returned to Taiwan on Sunday, the day his visa expired, MAC said in a statement.
The one China principle is China s insistence that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, something Taiwan s government and a majority of Taiwanese disagree with.