Taipei's top representative in the city says it's easier for islanders to visit the mainland than Hong Kong
Official contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong have been lagging behind unofficial ones and Taiwanese officials have found it difficult to secure visas, says the island's top representative in the city.
Jeff Yang Jia-jiunn, who arrived in Hong Kong in late December to be managing director of Chung Hwa Travel Service - Taiwan's de facto consulate - said the success rate of high-ranking Taiwanese government officials applying for Hong Kong visas in recent years was far lower than that of applications for entry to the mainland.
'Of those who formally filed written applications, I am afraid fewer than one in 20 have been granted visas,' he said.
'Even in those very special cases, in which Chung Hwa and other groups made lots of time-consuming efforts, only half of the applications are successful.'
Mr Yang told the South China Morning Post yesterday that even a Hong Kong-born official had had his application to visit the city with his family rejected last month, even though he had paid two earlier visits to Hong Kong over the past few years.