Beijing confirms olive branch on travel permits for Hong Kong pan-democrats
Hong Kong government says Beijing has notified it about the relaxation of restrictions on home visit permits, which have seen pan-democrats barred from mainland China
The Hong Kong government officially confirmed the offer of an olive branch from Beijing to the pan-democrats on Wednesday night, saying it had been informed that opposition politicians banned from entering the mainland would be granted the necessary travel documents from now on.
The government said it had been notified by Beijing that “the entry restrictions imposed on certain Legislative Council members and other persons on entering the Mainland of China have been relaxed from today onwards”. Beijing would now accept their applications for permits, it added.
That was after the pan-democrats questioned the credibility of the offer, outraged that the first confirmation came from one of their fiercest critics instead of being relayed directly to them.
After the news was first revealed by multiple sources on Tuesday night, a concrete corroboration came on Wednesday from Robert Chow Yung, convenor of the pro-establishment group Silent Majority for Hong Kong, after a meeting in Beijing with Wang Guangya, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.
“He hopes they can visit the mainland for the purposes of travelling or visiting relatives, as well as to have different modes of exchange to increase their understanding of the mainland,” Chow said.
Complaining that Beijing should have made an official announcement in the first place if it was sincere about the offer, the pan-democrats said they would not apply for home-return permits, which are required of Hong Kong permanent identity card holders of Chinese descent to enter the mainland.