Taiwan’s legislature is calling to protect its national security, citing a need to review its policy in categorizing Hong Kong and Macau as “foreign countries.”
In Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau residents are treated as foreigners when investing, working or studying in its region. This is due to the fact that residents from both the SARs are not under the jurisdiction of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the mainland Area.
In the report, the Legislative Yuan’s Organic Laws and Statutes Bureau stated that Hong Kong investors are given more options for investment, and that their applications are approved more easily compared to applications from mainland China, the report stated.
However, it feared that there has been a fundamental change in Hong Kong’s population dynamics, as 1.25 million mainland China residents have immigrated to Hong Kong in the past 25 years, as cited in a report issued by Taipei Times.
In 2021, the Taiwanese government received 49 applications from China to invest in Taiwan, a small figure comparing to the 691 applications it received from Hong Kong.
The legislative sees this as an indicator that the Chinese are exploiting a legal loophole by registering their companies in Hong Kong, according to the report.
The changing population dynamics, along with a shift in Chinese policies toward the governing of Hong Kong and Macau, has created doubts regarding the autonomy these territories have, and the government should reconsider its policies for them, the report stated, as cited in the Taiwanese media outlet.
The legislative also fears the effects of the approved contentious national security law for Hong Kong, that takes direct aim at some of the actions of anti-government protesters back in 2020. Staff Reporter
