The Kenyan Government has banned Taiwanese passport and deported two delegates who were travelling to their passport to attend the Our Ocean summit held in Mombasa.
In a statement on June 17, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’oei said any person traveling on a Taiwanese passport would ordinarily be denied entry at Kenya’s borders for lacking proper travel documentation.
“Any person purporting to hold a Taiwanese passport would ordinary not be allowed through our borders for lacking proper documentation and would not in any event be part of formal state meeting convened by Kenya government.” said Sing’oel.
The Foreign Affairs PS reiterated that Kenya recognises only one China and maintains its long-standing foreign policy position on the matter.
The ban follows accusations by Taiwan that Kenya deported two Taiwanese delegates who had travelled to attend the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, allegedly under pressure from Beijing.
According to Focus Taiwan, the English-language platform of Taiwan’s Central News Agency on June 17, the two delegates were denied entry upon arrival and held by Kenyan immigration officials before being removed from the country.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the scholars were detained for more than 20 hours, during which their passports and mobile phones were confiscated, before they were deported.
