On December 31, last year, a crowd gathered in Taiwan for the New Year is wearing masks. [로이터=연합뉴스]
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There is a country that screams joyfully at foreign talents and companies that are flocking to the global novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) epidemic. It is Taiwan, which is evaluated as having caught both the’two rabbits’ called corona 19 quarantine and economic quarantine.
South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 12th, “The success of COVID-19 quarantine and abundant jobs are attracting foreigners to Taiwan.”
According to the media, the number of foreigners who were granted residence status in Taiwan was 792,401 as of November last year. Despite Corona 19, it surpassed 780,000 5,341 people in the same period in 2019 and 75,8583 people in 2018. The number of permission to stay for entrepreneurs was also counted to 820 until October last year, a 2.3 times increase from 358 cases in 2019.
It is said that although the movement of people and goods around the world has greatly decreased due to Corona 19, the number of foreigners migrating to Taiwan has increased and money has been concentrated. SCMP cited the low number of coronavirus cases in Taiwan and the foreigner-friendly job system as the background.
In Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, the cumulative number of coronavirus confirmed cases as of the 5th (local time) was 817, and only 7 deaths.
Taiwanese authorities completely blocked entry to foreign countries including Wuhan, China in early February last year, when the corona19 epidemic was in the early stages, and implemented a thorough quarantine and tracking policy for confirmed cases. Since then, entry restrictions have been gradually eased in June-July, and entry to foreigners has been blocked again after the influx of mutant viruses from the UK was confirmed earlier this month.
The reason for the increase in the number of foreigners settling in Taiwan is that the number of foreigners who came to Taiwan chose to stay for a long time instead of going to their home country, or because the number of foreigners who chose to go to Taiwan at the time of easing the blockade was analyzed.
According to SCMP, Morocco-born Hasna Fateh, 40, who was bound by Corona 19 after going through Taiwan for business in January of last year, applied for permission to stay as an entrepreneur for three years. It is said that the status of residence came out after 5 weeks. There has also been a case of an Australian artist who came to Taiwan when he was unable to perform a performance scheduled for social distancing in his country.
There is also an aspect of benefiting from the enforcement of Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Overseas media companies, which are concerned about the decline of press freedom, have made Taiwan a refuge. In fact, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, the number of foreign journalists in Taiwan has increased significantly from 90 from 51 companies in 2019 to 124 from 71 companies at the end of last year.
![Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-won is holding his fist after he confirmed re-election in January last year. [EPA=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202101/13/9685508b-cdc0-46be-8d61-392dd5e7d29b.jpg?w=900&ssl=1)
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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-won is holding his fist after he confirmed re-election in January last year. [EPA=연합뉴스]
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The strategy of actively attracting foreign talent also played a part. Taiwan has been implementing the’Gold Card’ system since 2018, which makes it easy to issue visas and work permits if they are recognized as experts in 8 sectors such as technology, finance, and arts, or if a certain amount of capital is invested.
Taiwan is also doing well in’economic quarantine’. According to a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Taiwan’s economic growth rate last year was estimated at 2.5%. This is in a situation where major countries, including Korea, are expected to record negative growth. This year, it is expected to maintain a growth rate of 2-3%.
According to reports that local media cited the announcement by Taiwanese Minister of Finance Cai Mei-ina, Taiwan’s exports recorded 345.58 billion dollars last year, up 4.9% from the previous year. The trade surplus also reached an all-time high of $58.90 billion. Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance explained that Korea’s exports fell 5.8%, Singapore’s 8.4%, and Japan’s 10% as of November last year.
SCMP analyzed the background of the strong exports, “The sudden increase in telecommuting and learning due to the corona caused a surge in demand for computer semiconductors and electronic products around the world, and the Taiwanese economy benefited.” TSMC, Taiwan’s largest semiconductor producer, posted a net profit of $4.8 billion in the third quarter of last year, the highest since the last three years. During the same period, the stock price rose 50%.
In addition, the number of people visiting Taiwan in the’corona safe zone’ increased, and domestic demand continued to solidify. The Financial Times (FT) analyzed that “As Taiwan was recognized as a corona shelter, a boom in inflow of foreigners occurred. Accordingly, domestic consumption in the third quarter increased by 5.2% compared to the same period last year.”
Thanks to this, President Cai Ing-Won’s approval rating is also on the rise. In a poll released on the 21st of last month by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 60.9% of Taiwanese responded that they were satisfied with President Chai’s state administration. The negative evaluation was 36.6%. In the survey, 95.1% of respondents expressed satisfaction, saying, “Taiwan is relatively good at responding to the corona compared to other countries.”
Even in the midst of acute US-China conflict, President Chai regained power in last year’s elections and recorded 74.5% approval rating in May, the second inauguration. It is said to have been the highest approval rating among all Taiwan presidents.
Reporter Lee Yoo-jung [email protected]
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