Taiwan officials have been denied visa renewals in Hong Kong by the pro-Beijing government and have been forced to leave the city-state.
Several Taiwan officials of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong were reportedly declined visa renewals by the Hong Kong government, because they refused to sign statements in support of the “One China" Principle.
To do so would mean they accepted mainland Communist China's sovereignty over Taiwan, which has been self-governing since 1945.
As a result, they had to return to Taiwan, leaving only 12 officials in their office in Hong Kong.
Visa documents of four Taiwan officials were either expired or about to expire. The officials made applications for visa renewals but they had not heard from the Hong Kong authorities for as long as 6 months. It was suspected that the authorities have been stalling their applications in an attempt to disrupt the office's operation.
It was reported that there were once 20 officials in the office, which was set up last summer to help Hong Kong citizens who wanted to flee the city-state after the mainland imposed a new security law and the city's government began cracking down on dissidents.
[FULL STORY HERE]
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