Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 August, 2019
By: John Van Trieste
Recent unrest in Hong Kong and concern about the territory’s future have some Hong Kongers looking to the exits.
Interior Minister Hsu Kuo-yung says there has been a significant jump in the number of Hong Kongers applying for Taiwanese visas and residency permits this year.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Hsu said numbers have been especially high since the end of March. That’s when the Hong Kong government began considering a bill that would allow extraditions from the territory to China. The bill has sparked massive protests and led some residents to look to the exits amid fears about Hong Kong’s future.
The interior minister said that in April, the number of Hong Kongers applying for visas and residency permits was nearly 54% higher than it was in
April last year. The number of applications fell in May, but was back up again in June, with a volume 55% higher than in June last year.
Meanwhile, Hsu said the visa approval rate for Hong Kongers this year is 57% higher than it was last year. [FULL STORY]
