The SAR government has issued a strong condemnation of a travel advisory issued by the Taiwanese authorities that warns residents of the island to avoid “unnecessary travel” to Macao or Hong Kong.
In a statement yesterday, the Macao government said the advisory amounted to “defamation” of the SAR and was a “sinister” attempt to disrupt exchanges between Taiwan and Macao.
As Macao’s third largest source of visitors in 2023, Taiwan is of vital importance to Macao’s tourism sector. More than half a million residents of Taiwan visited Macao last year.
[See more: The SAR government issues a strong rebuff to the latest EU report on Macao]
The island issued an “orange alert” – its second highest travel warning – last week in response to the enactment of national security legislation in Macao and Hong Kong in recent years. It also cited a declaration made by the central government on 21 June allowing Chinese courts to try Taiwanese separatists in absentia.
The local government accused Taipei of “seeking arbitrarily to discredit Macao’s legal system.”
The Hong Kong government has issued a similar condemnation, describing the travel advisory as a “political manoeuvre” of “malicious intentions.” Hong Kong recorded nearly 784,000 visitors from Taiwan in 2023.
