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.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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