US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI95

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TW 
SUBJECT: MA DERIVES POLITICAL BOOST FROM HK VISA FLAP 
 
REF: HONG KONG 00046 
 
Classified By: AIT Director Douglas Paal, Reason: 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou has criticized 
the Hong Kong government for refusing his visa application to 
deliver two speeches and attend a seminar on culture and city 
management at two Hong Kong universities.  A Ma confidant 
told AIT that a close friend of Hong Kong Chief Executive 
Tung Chee-hwa, while visiting Taipei in mid-December, told Ma 
in a private meeting that he had heard there might be some 
problems with securing approval for Ma's visa because of Ma's 
remarks on the Anti-Secession Law, and suggested that Ma 
should find an excuse to postpone the visit.  Ma refused the 
advice, however, the ensuing drama may actually have boosted 
his popularity among the Taiwan electorate.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou on January 4 publicly 
called Hong Kong's rejection of his visa application a set 
back for Taiwan-Hong Kong relations.  Ma was scheduled to 
visit Hong Kong January 10-12 to deliver two lectures at the 
University of Hong Kong and attend a seminar on culture and 
city management at the Hong Kong University of Science and 
Technology.  In response to media speculation on January 5 
that Hong Kong had refused his application because of his 
criticisms of the PRC's proposed anti-secession law, Ma said 
that Hong Kong had acted unwisely and questioned the 
sincerity of "One country, two systems."  The implication 
that Beijing was behind Hong Kong's decision to refuse Ma's 
visa was reinforced when the local media reported on January 
7 that Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa had sent 
envoys to Taiwan at the end of 2004 to discourage Ma from 
traveling to Hong Kong because of his statements against the 
anti-secession law. 
 
3. (C) Taipei City Information Department Commissioner Jack 
Yu (Tzu-hsiang) told AIT that just after the Legislation Yuan 
election (LY), Yeh Kuo-hwa, who led a Hong Kong delegation to 
Taiwan to observe the LY election, told Ma in a private 
meeting that he had heard there might be some problems with 
securing approval for Ma's visa because of Ma's remarks on 
the anti-secession law.  Yeh suggested to Ma that he should 
find an excuse to postpone the visit.  Yu said that Ma was 
not certain whether or not Yeh was authorized by the Hong 
Kong government to convey this message, but because Yeh is 
close to Tung Chee-hwa, Ma could not rule out the 
possibility.  In any case, Yeh said, Ma refused to cancel the 
trip. 
 
4. (C) Yu said the Hong Kong authorities have not formally 
refused Ma's visa, rather they simply did not respond.  Yu 
said that he did not know the mechanics of the Hong Kong 
application process, but that he did know the travel agents 
who handled the application had returned Ma's application 
without a visa.  Yu noted that while Ma and his Office 
Director Zheng An-guo did not receive their visas, the other 
Taipei City officials scheduled to travel with Ma received 
their Hong Kong visas on January 4.  Yu said that after the 
University of Hong Kong President and the Hong Kong 
coordinator of the trip separately telephoned Ma on January 5 
to apologize, explaining that there might be some problems 
with his visa, Ma decided to go public about the refusal and 
his disappointment with "One country, two systems."  Yu said 
that Ma canceled his January 10 trip and does not intend to 
say anything stronger, but he is still monitoring the 
situation. 
 
5. (C) Speculating on why Ma's visa was refused, Yu said the 
PRC authorities fear that Ma might stir up Hong Kong public 
opinion concerning the proposed anti-secession law.  He said 
that if Ma were asked about the law during the course of his 
Hong Kong visit, he would surely have criticized it, which, 
Beijing officials probably feared, might inflame public 
opinion against the proposed law or incite those who would 
object to Ma's criticisms of China.  Either way, according to 
Yu, Beijing must have decided that it was not a good timing 
for Ma to visit Hong Kong. 
 
6. (C) Comment: In the complex politics of Taiwan, Ma has 
emerged unscathed and probably helped politically by this 
incident.  Executive Yuan Spokesman Chen Chi-mai on January 5 
publicly defended Ma, saying Taipei would lodge a strong 
protest to Hong Kong if the Special Administrative Region 
authority did not provide a proper explanation on its 
decision to deny Ma's visa.  The incident has given China's 
critics in Taiwan ammunition against the "One country, two 
systems," a formula most people on Taiwan firmly reject for 
Taiwan.  Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san 
said on January 5 that this sort of treatment is a blow to 
the development of bilateral ties between the two sides of 
the Taiwan Strait.  Hong Kong's refusal of his visa 
application might have even give Ma a boost in his effort to 
portray himself as a Taiwan politician.  During the 2002 
Mayoral race, Chen Shui-bian campaigning for Ma's DPP 
opponent said that Hong Kong-born Ma had "Hong Kong feet" (a 
word play on the Taiwanese term meaning athlete's foot), 
implying that Ma would take Taiwan down the path of Hong Kong 
and impose "One country, two systems" on Taiwan.  The Taiwan 
electorate loves an underdog, and last week, as he was 
rebuffed by the PRC, Ma seemed an awful lot like one of their 
own.  End Comment. 
PAAL