How Long Will We Wait to Accept Immigrants from Hong Kong?

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Over the last few years, Taiwan has been dubbed “most progressive in Asia,” but Taiwan is actually still a relatively conservative society. For example, when it comes to skin color, the average Taiwanese person is still likely to put a priority on lighter-skinned people; when it comes to issues of gender, Taiwan is still rather male-centric. Within the average Taiwanese home, paternalism is still the standard way.  

I want to focus on “Taiwan’s xenophobic policy,” especially the debate over how to receive immigrants from Hong Kong. When it comes to immigration in Taiwan, we do not have the luxury to be conservative. Let us be honest with ourselves: over the past thirty years, have we not lost at least two million high-value workers overseas? Won’t Taiwan become a hyper-aged society in five years? Aren’t there fewer and fewer students entering college every single year? Finally, if Taiwan does not open our doors to new immigrants and try to rely only on organic population growth, wouldn’t our economy collapse within ten or twenty years? 

We can’t be complacent

Some people say that Japan’s got it worse. I have two things to tell them. First, that’s like someone with first-stage cancer saying “at least I’m don’t have third-stage cancer.” If that’s your excuse for not seeking treatment, you’re just dumb. Second, Japan has already begun quietly drawing in immigrants under the radar. Japan’s government has been reaching out to Chinese and Korean study-abroad students and encouraging them to apply for residency, even to begin the naturalization process.

Singapore currently has a population of six million, but those born in Singapore only take up 3.5 million of the total. The rest are those with work permits from other countries, permanent residents, and naturalized citizens. This policy has been in effect for over several decades. When it first began, migrant laborers and naturalized citizens brought a lot of issues for society, but Singapore’s pragmatic government came up with a solution. They moved the screening of migrant workers and potential immigrants directly to the source country instead of having this screening process at border control. As a result, Singapore’s “new immigrants” are either “smart talent” or “young talent,” or people bringing their wealth with them.  

Everyone’s been watching what’s been going on in Hong Kong. Within the next five years, there will be a huge influx of Hong Kong citizens starting to think about moving to Taiwan. If it were me, I would have set a national policy of having “300,000 to 500,000 young Hong Kong talent immigrate to Taiwan within 5 years” to raise the productivity and change the aging demographics of Taiwan. 

The quality of Hong Kong immigrants totally depends on what incentives Taiwan offers, as well as its screening prerequisites and methods. But can Taiwan offer incentives attractive enough and provide the right screening procedures? Is Taiwanese society inclusive and progressive enough? And is the younger generation willing to accept these challenges?

If Taiwan isn’t willing to accept Hong Kongers because we’re stuck in our old ways, I can only say, “you get what you deserve.” 

(Feature photo by Su Fen-kai, Business Today Magazine)