Hong Kong condemns Taiwan after second-highest travel warning issued for city

The Hong Kong government has condemned Taiwanese authorities for smearing the national security law by issuing its second-highest travel warning for the city, calling it political manipulation.

A government spokesman said on Thursday night the administration had constitutional responsibilities to ensure national security, as other common law jurisdictions such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore did.

“However, the Taiwan authorities turned a blind eye to this, spoke nonsense, maliciously smeared and demonised the national security law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, completely exposing their double standards,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Taiwan issued its second-highest travel warning for Hong Kong, telling the self-ruled island’s residents to avoid non-essential travel to the city due to its national security laws and cases of Taiwanese being detained on mainland China.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said an “orange” travel warning had been issued for the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

“There have been several cases of citizens going to mainland China and getting illegally detained, kept and interrogated,” it said.

“[This] seriously threatens the personal safety of [Taiwanese] people travelling to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau,” the council said.

The statement also cited Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and the national security law as reasons for the warning.

“We have repeatedly called on the Chinese Communist Party to avoid hindering positive cross-strait interactions and creating obstacles to personnel exchanges,” it said.

“Unfortunately, the [party] insists on going its own way and has intensified its efforts.”

Taiwan has four levels of travel warnings: “grey” that asks residents to pay extra attention when in the related city or country; “yellow” that calls for reviewing whether travel is necessary; “orange” that recommends avoiding non-essential travel; and “red” that urges residents to avoid travel or leave as soon as possible if already there.

Other places currently on Taiwan’s orange list include certain parts of India, Myanmar, Lebanon and Brazil.

The warning triggered a strong rebuttal from Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, which accused Taiwan of using “scaremongering” political tactics.

The Mainland Affairs Council had recently confirmed at least two cases of Taiwanese travellers being strip-searched or detained while visiting the mainland for business and leisure.