IMMIGRATION
13,000 move from HK
The number of Hong Kongers settling in Taiwan reached a record high last year, official figures showed. Almost 13,000 Hong Kongers secured the right to stay last year, the National Immigration Agency said. About 11,173 of those acquired short-term residency, while 1,685 received permanent residency, data showed. That followed a doubling of the number in 2020 compared with the year before, with 10,813 people granted short-term residency visas. The previous record was 7,506 in 2014 during the pro-democracy “Umbrella movement” protests. Although Taiwan does not have an asylum or refugee law, nor does it accept refugee applications, Hong Kongers can apply for residency through other channels, including investment visas.
LABOR
Online services expanded
The adult children of foreign professionals can apply for work permits online without bureaucratic delays, the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency said on Thursday. The previous process was often time-consuming, as applicants had to wait in lines at labor offices during work hours to submit forms, while sending or receiving paperwork through the postal service took even more time, the agency said. It is now allowing adult children of foreign professionals seeking work permits to apply directly on its “EZ Work Permit” Web site (https://ezwp.wda.gov.tw). The site provides services for foreign students, and foreign professionals and their adult children, who are allowed to apply directly to the ministry for a work permit without going through an employer, if they meet certain requirements.
SOCIETY
Sixteen win NT$10 million
Sixteen receipts had the winning serial number (31150905) for the special prize of NT$10 million (US$359,350) in the November-December uniform invoice lottery, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. One of the winning receipts was for NT$4 from a FamilyMart convenience store at the Xinying Service Area rest stop in Tainan, the ministry said. The purchase included food and coffee, but the total was only NT$4 after deductions from the use of FamilyMart bonus points, the ministry said. Another 15 receipts had the winning serial number (28564531) for the grand prize of NT$2 million, including one for NT$1 from e-commerce company Shopee, the ministry said. Three numbers qualified for the NT$200,000 first prize: 05754219, 52891675 and 45327106, it added.
SOCIETY
‘Taiping’ remembered
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) on Thursday held a commemoration at the Taiping Steamer Monument to mark the 73rd anniversary of the maritime incident. The Taiping sank in 1949 after colliding with another vessel while crossing the Taiwan Strait. More than 1,000 people, most of whom were refugees fleeing the Chinese Civil War, died in the incident. The city has over the past few years worked to complete the Shawan History and Culture Park (沙灣歷史文化園區), which was finished in October last year, to honor the victims of the incident and give comfort to their loved ones, Lin said. The city removed walls surrounding the monument to allow access, while historical structures in the area were incorporated into the park to preserve the city’s history, he said. The Keelung Cultural Affairs Bureau said that the monument is a reminder that Taiwan is a nation of immigrants and that its hard-won freedom should be appreciated and protected.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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