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.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
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The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
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