More Hong Kongers purchased real estate in Taiwan last year than other foreigners, Ministry of the Interior statistics showed.
The ministry attributed the spike to a proposed extradition law that the Hong Kong government submitted last year, which would have allowed suspects to be sent to China and other nations, which sparked mass protests that are continuing.
The rate of purchases last year by Hong Kong natural and juridical persons stood at 40 and 60 percent respectively, with building area purchased by both standing at 47.41 percent and 52.59 percent respectively, ministry data showed.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
Department of Land Administration statistics showed that Hong Kongers purchased 11,200 ping (37,025m2) in total land area, a new high for Hong Kongers’ real estate purchases.
The British Virgin Islands were second with 3,102 ping, with Belize in third with 2,210 ping, Malaysia with 1,358 ping and US nationals or companies in fifth place with 1,185 ping, the statistics showed.
Hong Kongers’ land area purchases exceed those of other countries by 1.43 times, the statistics showed.
In terms of building area, Hong Kongers purchased 48,000 ping, the British Cayman Islands nearly 20,000 ping, the Virgin Islands about 9,600 ping, the US nearly 8,000 ping and Malaysia more than 5,300 ping, the data showed.
The department said that purchases from the Virgin and Cayman islands were made through juridical persons.
Realtors in the know said that many Taiwanese companies have established subsidiary firms in the Virgin and Cayman islands, so the actual purchasers could be Taiwanese companies using a different name.
The difference between those purchases and those made by natural and juridical persons from Hong Kong is that the former are making investments while the latter are considering moving to Taiwan, they said.
Sinyi Realty corporate realty research project manager Tseng Ching-te (曾敬德) said statistics show that the spike in Hong Konger purchases is due to similar living habits and lack of a communications barrier.
The ongoing difficulties in Hong Kong are another reason, with retirees in the majority of those purchasing realty in Taiwan, he said.
National Immigration Agency data showed that there were about 2,000 applications from Hong Kongers for temporary residence before the 2008 financial crisis, but the numbers grew from about 4,574 in early 2014 to 7,506 after the pro-democracy “Umbrella movement” in Hong Kong later that year — a 64 percent increase.
REPro Knight Frank Taiwan Research and Consultancy head Andy Huang (黃舒衛) said there is a clear trend of Hong Kongers investing in Taiwan for political and social reasons.
Regardless of investment, immigration or realty purchasing, or culturally related issues such as culture, Hong Kongers view Taiwan favorably and in an attractive light, he said.
Should Taiwan become more internationalized and offer more jobs, there could be an even bigger influx of Hong Kong capital, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS