A call by Hong Kong activists to “evacuate to Taiwan” appears to have hit a nerve, with government data showing a sixfold increase in the number of applications for residency from Hong Kongers.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said it received an average of 100 such applications per month between January and August. However, 632 applications were filed in September, the most recent data available.
Applications by residents of Hong Kong and Macau to live in Taiwan totaled 1,598 through August, while there were 486 applications for permanent residency during the same period.
Residents of the two former colonies can apply for permanent residency after living in Taiwan for a specific period of time and the figures are seen as “leading indicators” of an intention to settle in Taiwan, an agency official said.
“We have definitely seen an increasing trend in the past few years. We had a historic high last year in the number of Hong Kongers applying for residency in Taiwan. The amount of applications for permanent residence also hit a new high last year since China took over Hong Kong [in 1997],” the official said.
There has been a growing groundswell of discontent in Hong Kong in recent months, with massive protests being held against the government. The situation has been exacerbating by the skyrocketing price of housing and falling wages, along with many Hong Kong residents feeling that their social welfare entitlements are being squeezed by the upsurge in Chinese residents in the territory.
Media in Hong Kong have been reporting on a generation of “angry youth,” who are prompting the calls to emigrate.
The Hong Kong government last month granted television broadcast licenses to two networks, both controlled by business tycoons, while denying a license to Hong Kong Television Network, which is perceived as more aligned with democracy and media freedom causes. The decision led to more than 100,000 people attending anti-government rallies to protest the move.
Some young people have initiated an “Evacuate to Taiwan” campaign on their Facebook pages, which has received a positive response and appears to be gathering steam among the territory’s youth.
The Rules Governing Permits for People from Hong Kong and Macau Setting Up Residence or Permanent Residence in Taiwan (香港澳門居民進入臺灣地區及居留定居許可辦法) set out the requirements that residents of the former British colony who wish to move to Taiwan must follow.
Like other foreigners, some Hong Kongers can come to Taiwan on employment contracts, or if they possess special skills.
Hong Kong residents can also apply under the “investment immigrant” category if they invest NT$5 million (US$169,000) or more in Taiwan or deposit NT$5 million or more into a Taiwanese bank account for more than a year.
Analysts say the amount, equivalent to about HK$1.35 million, would only buy about 1 ping (3.305m2) of property in the territory’s pricey hillside residential districts.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS