Some people in Hong Kong choose to leave Hong Kong to immigrate because of the “Hong Kong National Security Law” and the handling of the epidemic. The immigration destination that many people chose in the early days was Taiwan because it was the most convenient. Now choose the UK where it is easiest to obtain residency. In 2019, Taiwan and the United Kingdom strongly supported Hong Kong people in their anti-government movement, and Tsai Ing-wen even used slogans to encourage Hong Kong people to disrupt Hong Kong.
Yesterday, there were media reports that in the past two years, the Taiwan authorities have rejected at least 70 administrative complaints filed by Hong Kong people for residency and settlement. person’s application. Who are these applicants?
According to reports, these people include current or former public hospitals, universities, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Cathay Pacific Airways or Maxim’s Group, and they are suspected of “threatening national interests and public safety”. More than 70 people in this group were rejected. More than 40% of the people. The Taiwan authorities explained that the reason for refusing the application was that those who had served in government agencies, including the HA and the HKMA, were public officials and had sworn allegiance to the SAR government, so the application was rejected. As for the employees of Maxim’s and Cathay Pacific, they were rejected because Maxim’s “primary children” had supported the Hong Kong police, and Cathay Pacific’s shareholders included Air China and the SAR government, so it was difficult to rule out their “connections with the mainland”.
After listening to these reasons, do you think that the Taiwan authorities basically refuse these people to stay or settle in Taiwan for “unwarranted” reasons? What special skills do managers of the HKMA, nurses at the HA, ordinary employees of Maxim’s and Cathay Pacific have that can endanger Taiwan’s social security? Have they participated in any activities that endangered social stability in the past? If any of them really participated in an anti-social movement like 2019, isn’t that what Tsai Ing-wen advocated?
The Taiwan authorities say they support Hong Kong people, but their actions are the most practical. From the figures, Taiwan is definitely not opening the door to Hong Kong people and embracing Hong Kong people to Taiwan. According to reports, in 2019, the numbers of Hong Kong people who were allowed to reside and settle in Taiwan were over 5,800 and about 1,500 respectively, and the figures in 2020 were less than 11,000 respectively. And more than 1,500 people, last year it was about 11,000 people and about 1,700 people. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, an organization of Hong Kong people in the United Kingdom estimates that there will be close to 300,000 Hong Kong people immigrating to the United Kingdom in five years. The number of Hong Kong people moving to Taiwan is quite different from the situation in which hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people have already flocked to the UK. Why? There is only one explanation, that is, Taiwan does not want to accept so many Hong Kong people. The situation in the UK and Taiwan is different. Is it because many of the immigrants to the UK are professional and middle-class people who immigrated to the UK with considerable assets and professional knowledge, but the proportion of applicants with high income and professional background in Taiwan is relatively low? We don’t know the answer. The media may need to investigate further, but what we know today is that the door to Taiwan has not been opened for Hong Kong. To refuse the application with a bunch of reasons that are not reasons is to let Hong Kong people see the true face of the Taiwan authorities!
Huang Lijun