The National Development Council (NDC) is drafting a legislative proposal that would provide a fast-track immigration option for skilled workers from Hong Kong, a source said yesterday.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday last week announced that the government was formulating specific measures that would help people from Hong Kong seeking to relocate to Taiwan.
The measures would ease restrictions on Hong Kong graduates and professionals wanting to work and reside in Taiwan, and reduce requirements for obtaining residence through investment in the country, the MAC said.
Implementing measures to assist people from Hong Kong would involve amendments to a number of statutes and administrative systems, and would involve the NDC, the MAC, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education and other government agencies, the source said.
As part of its proposal, the NDC is also seeking to implement a preferential taxation scheme for skilled foreign workers who want to immigrate, and reduce the wait time required to apply for permanent residence, to help the government attract those in international business and finance, the source said.
Currently, those seeking permanent residence can only do so after living in Taiwan for five years, and during those five years they must reside in Taiwan no fewer than 183 days per year.
Under the NDC’s planned proposal, the wait time would be reduced to three years, the source said, adding that the proposed bill would apply to all foreigners, but unlike other legislation concerning foreign immigrants, would also apply to people from Hong Kong.
The MAC is also expected to work with the NDC on revising articles 16 and 29 of the Regulations Governing Residency or Permanent Residency for People of the Hong Kong Area and the Macau Area (香港澳門居民進入臺灣地區及居留定居許可辦法), which stipulate the conditions under which people from Hong Kong can gain permanent residence, the source said.
The planned proposal would also call for an amendment to the minimum salary requirements for hiring Hong Kong graduates of Taiwanese schools, the source said, adding that Hong Kong residents — like other non-citizens — currently must be paid a minimum monthly salary of NT$47,971.
This would be reduced to NT$40,000 for Hong Kong graduates to make them more competitive in the job market, the source said.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS