Rising Beijing-Taipei tensions also taking a toll in Macau-Taipei relations

Rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei have also taken a toll in Macau-Taipei relations, with the appointments of official representatives in both sides having been impacted, the Macau News Agency (MNA) has learned.

According to what MNA has assessed through different sources, since the previous Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau, Chen Hsueh-huai, retired and left the position in July, 2019 – which he had occupied since July, 2017 – local authorities have not accepted Taipei’s transfer of personnel in the same management level to replace him.

Since then the office has been managed by Acting Director, Lee Pei-Ju, however, local authorities have also refused to renew his authorisation to remain in the city, with Lee leaving the SAR in April of this year.

Meanwhile Taiwan’s new appointment, Zheng Duoma also failed to obtain authorisation from local authorities to assume the position, with Chen Jiahong becoming Deputy Director in May.

The decision has led to a similar response by Taiwanese authorities, with the Director of the Macau Economic and Cultural Office, Ho Weng Wai, to finish her term in office from September 26, one year earlier than what was determined, and leaving the office in charge of Acting Director, Lam Chi I.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau is the representative office of the Republic of China in Macau, with the Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan being its counterpart body in Taiwan.

The Macau SAR Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office and the Chief Executive Office were questioned by MNA on the matter, with no response provided.

After MNA insisted on the matter the Government’s Information Bureau (GCS) issued a public statement on its online platform denying any political reasons for the changes, but without issuing a personal reply to this publication.

The GCS stated that Ho Weng Wai ceased her position at his request and for personal reasons and that the change of personnel is a common procedure and the Macau Economic and Cultural Delegation in Taiwan continues to function properly.

However, no statement was made concerning the exits of Chen Hsueh-huai and Lee Pei-Ju.

In July of this year, the South China Morning Post reported that the head of Taiwan’s office in Hong Kong, Kao Ming-tsun, was forced to leave the city this week alongside two directors after they refused to sign a declaration requiring them to ‘rigorously uphold the one-China principle’ as a condition of visa renewal.

The ‘One-China’ or 1992 consensus, is a policy asserting that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, as opposed to the idea that there are two states, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC).

‘Under the guidance of the basic principles and policies of the Central Government for Hong Kong and Macao affairs related to Taiwan, the Macau Economic and Cultural Delegation in Taiwan will, as always, remain firm in upholding the ‘One China’ principle,’ the Macau SAR indicated in its public statement.

‘It will continue to actively promote and support Macau associations in exchange and cooperation activities with Taiwanese society, in the areas of the economy, culture, education, sport and tourism, with a view to continuing Macau’s role as a bridge in relations between the two sides of the strait, with the promotion of peaceful development of relations between these two parties.’

Cross-strait relations have worsened since President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016, and following her re-lection in 2019, the Taiwanese President firmly rejected the 1992 consensus.

“Until the time when the DPP accepts it – which is and will be unlikely – the personnel deadlock will continue. So, in the foreseeable future, the impasse will persist until two conditions are reached. Firstly the DDP acceptance of the 1992 consensus – which is and will be quite unlikely in the short run and medium-term – and secondly the return of the Kuomintang to power,” political researcher Sonny Lo Shiu Hing indicated to MNA.

Any possible return of the Kuomintang (KMT) party to power – which usually favours closer ties with the mainland – would not be possible until the 2024 Presidential elections.

Public statements by the Tsai administration in support of the Hong Kong protest movement and opposition to the imposition of the city’s new national security law, coupled with the visits of high-level US officials to the island have also further deteriorated relations, not just with the mainland but the SARs.

Keith Krach, US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, alights from an aircraft after landing at the Songshan airport in Taipei on September 17 (AFP)

Recently the US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, Keith Krach, concluded a low-key visit to the island, making him the highest-ranking U.S. State Department official to visit Taiwan since 1979.

Krach did not hold official visits to the Presidential Office or MOFA’s headquarters, but still held meetings with high-level government officials and attending the memorial service of late President Lee Teng-hui.

The visit coincided with a sharp increase in incursions by Chinese jets into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.

“The current cross-strait relations can be said to be very severe, with the recent visit to Taiwan by the U.S. Under Secretary of State, the People’s Liberation Army’s repeated approach to Taiwan, and even the participation of the former President of the Legislative Yuan, Wang Jin-pyng, in the Straits Forum,” Professor Shaw Chong-hai, a leading scholar in cross-strait relations and a Professor at National Chengchi University told MNA.

According to the researcher, Macau-Taiwan relations are “inseparable from cross-strait relations” and the departures of Director Ho Weng Wai and Director Chen Hsueh-huai can not be seen as separate incidents but must be interpreted in context with the overall interaction between the governments of Macau and Taiwan.

“The current severe situation in cross-strait relations is well known, but neither side of the strait has officially broken up. It is only the enthusiasm for official or semi-official interaction that has dropped to a freezing point, but exchanges among the people are still active. The same is true for Macau-Taiwan relations,” Professor Shaw added.

However, the cross-strait relations expert considered that even if both parties fail to have official director-level representatives stationed in each other’s location, the idea to entirely remove the representative offices has not been mentioned.

“This means that Macau-Taiwan relations still maintain official-level interactions on the surface, but not to completely cut off. This is just not as active as it used to be,” he added.

MNA contacted the Taipei Macau Economic and Cultural Office for an official response on the matter, with the office directing a response to the Mainland Affairs Council, the administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of Taiwan and responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations policy which targets mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

No reply was yet to be provided to MNA by the agencies and departments contacted.