Macao requires Taiwanese officers stationed locally to sign a form supporting Beijing’s “one China” policy in order to be granted visas, media in Taiwan has reported.

The government rule had been in place since 2019 but was not revealed until recently, as Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council did not want to strain relations with Macao, the Liberty Times reported. Non-civil servants were later asked to sign the form as well, it said.

The newspaper said that the visa requirement was the reason why Taiwan had yet to assign a replacement for Chen Hsueh-huai, who retired in 2019 as director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macao.

Taiwan’s office in Macao will from Saturday temporarily cease to function. Five employees are officially on its payroll, and November 2022 is when the last of their visas will run out.

In July last year, the Hong Kong government told Taiwanese personnel based in the city to put their signatures to a similar document. Both Hong Kong and Macao are special administrative regions under the sovereignty of mainland China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province.

Taiwan is increasingly being alienated from Hong Kong and Macao. Most recently, Macao’s government announced on Wednesday the suspension of its Taipei representative office starting June 19, following a similar move in May by Hong Kong, which cited Taiwanese support for the city’s protesters. The Macao government did not give a reason for the decision.

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