Canadia’s special immigration initiative for Hong Kong residents received more than 500 applications in its first three weeks, a Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) spokesman said on Friday.
Ottawa late last year said it would make it easier for young Hong Kongers to study and work in Canada in response to new security rules imposed by China on the former British colony.
“In the first three weeks that the program was open [Feb. 8 to Feb. 28], IRCC received 503 applications for work permits and 10 applications for work permit extensions,” agency press secretary Alexander Cohen said in an e-mailed statement.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Canada shares the grave concerns of the international community over China’s National Security Legislation and strongly supports the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,” he said.
Canada in February said that Hong Kong graduates of Canadian universities could apply for a new category of three-year work permit from that month.
China in June last year imposed a new National Security Law in Hong Kong, aimed at anything Beijing regards as subversion, secession or terrorism.
As China imposed the sweeping law, thousands of Hong Kongers moved large parts of their assets to Canada, where they were hoping to forge a new future.
Capital flows out of Hong Kong to Canada rose to record levels last year, with about C$43.6 billion (US$34.87 billion) in transfers recorded by the Canadian Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, which monitors transactions above C$10,000.
Canada is a second home for many Hong Kongers who moved there ahead of the territory’s handover to China in 1997. After obtaining Canadian citizenship, many returned to Hong Kong, which is now home to about 300,000 Canadians.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
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