Taipei, Taiwan
On Saturday, Bryan did something he had never done before: he cast his ballot to select Taiwan’s next president.
“I am Taiwanese now and I hope Taiwan will improve – although I have not abandoned my identity as a Hongkonger, I still follow news of Hong Kong quite closely,” Bryan told HKFP in Taipei’s Ximending, where he runs a snack shop featuring Cantonese rice rolls.
Formerly an office clerk in Hong Kong, Bryan migrated to Taiwan with his family in late 2019 after the outbreak of the pro-democracy protests and unrest. “We tried to make our voices heard through peaceful marches, but the [Hong Kong] government simply ignored us,” Bryan said. “Failing to make a change, we had no choice but to leave.”
Protests erupted in Hong Kong in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. The following year, a national security law was imposed on the city, and in the months that followed, tens of thousands of residents voted with their feet and left Hong Kong.
See also: How to measure Hong Kong’s mass exodus
In Taiwan, where his voice is heard through democratic elections, Bryan has attached great importance to each election. He cast his ballot in the 2021 four referendums and the 2022 local elections. For 2024, he said he “did not have much choice” as he had to choose candidates who were firm in their stance on China.
“Still, Taiwan can do better in many areas. I think the ruling party has put Taiwan on the international stage in recent years, but we also need to pay attention to domestic issues such as housing, transportation and the legal system,” Bryan said.
According to National Immigration Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, the number of Hongkongers who gained residency certificates in Taiwan rose rapidly in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019.
However, many left Taiwan for the UK and Canada after failing to secure permanent residency certificates, which endow holders with a Taiwanese passport, a Taiwanese identity card and to the vote.
Some 7,000 Hongkongers obtained permanent residency certificates from 2019 to 2023, with some eligible to vote in the 2024 election. The Taiwanese government has not revealed how many voters are from Hongkong.
Jeremy, a Hongkonger in his 60s, who spoke to HKFP under a pseudonym, migrated to Taiwan with his family three years ago. In 2022, he registered his living address as a Taiwanese national and cast his ballot for the first time during the local elections.
On Saturday morning, Jeremy set off at 6.10 am to go to the polling station. “It took me one hour to arrive at Taoyuan, where my previous address was registered before I moved to my current home. More than 20 people were already waiting there when I arrived at around 7 am,” Jeremy told HKFP in Cantonese. “The procedure was smooth and I cast my ballots within three minutes.”
“For thousands of years of Chinese civilisation, [Taiwan] has been the only place where everyone has the right to vote for the highest governing leader. I am lucky to participate in the election,” Jeremy, a Hongkonger who previously worked in the city’s education sector told HKFP.
It was in 2016 that Jeremy witnessed Taiwan’s general election for the first time, but he never imagined that he would become one of the island’s 19.5 million voters. “It was only after 2019 that I thought we should leave [Hong Kong],” Jeremy said.
As a minority in Taiwan, Hongkongers value their right to vote. Two days ahead of polling, a live house run by a Hong Kong family hosted a seminar to help Hongkongers understand Taiwan’s voting procedures.
Pamela Yuen, a Hongkonger in her 60s, told HKFP that her family had run Rev Now since moving to Taiwan.
“We came here via the investment immigration scheme, with my husband Gerald arriving first and me joining in 2018. Our son came around two years ago,” Pamela said. “But I always miss Hong Kong and ask myself constantly why I abandoned Hongkong… I am still struggling [with my decision].”
In 2022, Pamela became eligible to vote, and has for months closely followed election news ahead of Saturday’s poll.
“I am anxious about the election, as the TPP’s Ko Wen-je has disturbed the election with his campaigns… Last week, some friends with a Hong Kong background were drinking in our live house and it came to me that we should host an event to talk about the election,” Pamela said.
“We were all concerned about this election and the government’s policies towards Hongkongers. Plus, we had never experienced an election day like it before,” she added. “In Hong Kong, we’ve only got small-circle elections,” Pamela said.
Pamela cast her first ballot in Taiwan’s local elections two years ago. Unlike in Hongkong, where voting often lasts until 10 pm, polling in Taiwan usually ends at 4pm. Pamela recalled running late on election day.
“I entered the polling station one minute before 4 pm, and, fortunately, the staff there were very helpful. I therefore successfully cast my first ballot in Taiwan!” Pamela said.
A tight race
Polls opened at 8 am across Taiwan on Saturday as the island’s 19.5 million eligible voters decide who they want as their next president and parliament. Ballot counting will begin after polling stations close at 4 pm.
On the top of the ticket for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is current Vice-President William Lai Ching-te, whose running mate Hsiao Bi-khim was Taiwan’s representative to the US. They hope to earn their party a historic third term in office, and are largely running as the “consistency” candidates, vowing to continue the global-facing policies of President Tsai Ing-wen, who has advanced the island’s international standing.
That stance has come at a cost to relations with Beijing, which considers the island a breakaway province to be unified with mainland China by force if necessary.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party candidate, former police officer and mayor of New Taipei City Hou Yu-ih, has warned that the DPP has brought the island to the brink of war and said that a vote for the KMT is a vote for “peace.”
Hou is running alongside media personality Jaw Shau-kong, who earlier this week discussed his friendship with detained Hong Kong newspaper mogul Jimmy Lai and called the city’s One Country, Two Systems model – proposed by Beijing as a means of governance for Taiwan – a “failure.”
The third contender for the presidency is former Taipei mayor and doctor Ko Wen-je, from the Taipei People’s Party (TPP), which was established in 2019. Ko and his vice-presidential candidate, Cynthia Wu Hsin-ying – who worked in finance before joining the legislature and whose father is a billionaire – have presented the TPP as an alternative to the political status quo offered by the DPP and the KMT, who have alternated turns in power since Taiwan’s first democratic election in 1996.
See also: Taiwan election 2024 – The 3 presidential candidates and what they say about relations with China
Voting age is 20 in Taiwan, and people must return to their home counties to cast their ballots.
Votes are also being cast for the 113 seats in the island’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan. The publication of polling data in the 10 days ahead of an election is prohibited, but many pundits expect the presidential race to be tight and suggest that no major party will win a majority in the legislature.
Dateline:
Taipei, Taiwan
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
LATEST FROM HKFP
HKFP has an impartial stance, transparent funding, and balanced coverage guided by an Ethics Code and Corrections Policy.
Support press freedom & help us surpass 1,000 monthly Patrons: 100% independent, governed by an ethics code & not-for-profit.
