HK suspends operations of its Taiwan office
NEW CATHOLIC BISHOP: RESPECT PLURALITY
Hong Kong, 18: Hong Kong is temporarily shutting its representative office in Taiwan, officials said Tuesday in the latest indication of strained ties.
“The Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office (Taiwan) has temporarily suspended operations with effect from today,” Hong Kong’s government said in a brief statement, which did not give a reason for the closure. A government spokesperson said that the decision “has nothing to do with the Coronavirus situation” in Taiwan where cases have recently spiked and prompted the reimposition of some social distancing measures.
Asked whether the closure was tied to politics, the spokesperson declined to comment.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles relations with China, said it “deeply regrets the Hong Kong government’s unilateral decision” and vowed to keep its own office in the financial hub open despite strained ties.
Hong Kong abides by authoritarian China’s view that democratic, self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and must be seized one day, by force if necessary. Like Beijing, Hong Kong does not recognise Taiwanese authorities as legitimate.
Hong Kong, May 18: Hong Kong’s incoming Roman Catholic bishop Stephen Chow called for plurality to be respected, in a time of polarisation in the Catholic community as the city’s political situation deteriorates.
Chow said while he had “no big plan” on how to unify a diocese that had become politically polarised over the last two years amid months of antigovernment protests in Hong Kong, he believed that God wanted them to be united.
“Unity is not the same as uniformity,” Chow said at a news conference Tuesday. “One thing I've always mentioned recently in schools is (there is) unity is plurality.
However, there is a huge amount of trade between Hong Kong and Taiwan. According to Hong Kong’s government, Taiwan is its second-largest trading partner, its third-largest market for domestic exports, its fifth-largest market for re-exports and its second-largest source of imports.