Taiwan saw spike in Hongkongers seeking residency in 2019

2019年香港人尋求台灣居留權的人數驟增

Nearly 6,000 Hongkongers granted temporary or permanent residency in Taiwan last year


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan saw significant growth in the number of Hong Kong residents fleeing to the country last year amid months of political uncertainty and social unrest.

According to Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA), 5,858 Hongkongers were granted temporary or permanent residency in 2019, representing year-on-year growth of 41.12 percent. The figures for 2016, 2017, and 2018 were 4,057, 4,015, and 4,148, respectively, reported CNA.

A total of 1,474 Hong Kong residents successfully attained permanent resident status in 2019, a 35 percent rise from 2018. During the first four months of this year, 2,383 residents from the semi-autonomous city entered Taiwan with a resident visa, while 474 became new immigrants.

Taiwan has become an increasingly popular destination for Hongkongers seeking to hold on to their freedom ever since the anti-extradition bill protests began last summer. The island nation's democracy and close proximity to Hong Kong have helped boost its appeal as Beijing tightens its grip on the special administrative region it once promised continued freedom to under the “one country, two systems” formula.

Wong Chau-sang (黃秋生), a pro-democracy Hong Kong actor, has revealed his intention to move to Taiwan permanently by obtaining citizenship. There are 16 ways through which Hongkongers are able to attain Taiwan residency, including by making an NT$6 million (US$199,211) investment in the nation.

The number of permanent residency seekers can be expected to climb with the resumption of protests in Hong Kong over national security legislation proposed by Beijing last week that is widely feared to mean the end of rule of law in the territory. The new law would ban "secessionist and subversive activity," among other vaguely defined concepts, according to AP.

On Sunday (May 24), thousands took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest the legislation and were met by police firing tear gas.