Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan last year — almost double the number reported a year earlier — after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory.
Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kongers seeking an alternative to their territory’s frenetic pace and sky-high rents.
However, the legislation implemented in June last year has accelerated an exodus, and the number of Hong Kongers granted short-term residency soared to 10,813 from 5,858 in 2019, according to National Immigration Agency data.
Photo: Kaohsiung City Government Bureau of Cultural Affairs via CNA
The previous record was 7,506 in 2014 during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy “Umbrella movement.”
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) quoted unnamed sources as saying that the number of arrivals would have been higher if not for COVID-19 border restrictions.
Taiwan does not have an asylum or refugee law, nor does it accept refugee applications — fearful of a potential influx from China.
However, Hong Kongers can apply to live in Taiwan through other channels, including investment visas.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has vowed support for Hong Kong’s democracy movement and launched a new office last year to deal with Hong Kongers seeking to stay in Taiwan.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS