Hong Kongers look to emigrate to Taiwan, elsewhere

When activists began setting fire to trash cans and hurling bricks at police during a February riot in Hong Kong, Chris Lee became more convinced his decision to leave his siblings and mother behind and move to Taiwan was the right one.

Hong Kong, long known as one of the safest and most law-abiding places in Asia, has become increasingly polarized with occasional violent protests, fueled in part by tensions with Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing over the territory’s democratic future.

“It’s not just the politics that are messed up,” said Lee, who moved to Taiwan in March and opened a restaurant. “It is also the people who have become irrational and fickle that drove me to leave.”

Lee is not alone. About 42 percent of Hong Kong residents want to leave, a survey by independent think tank Civic Exchange showed last month. That compares with 20 percent wanting to leave Singapore.

Seventy percent of 1,500 people surveyed said Hong Kong had become “worse” or “much worse” to live in, with the biggest concerns housing, the “quality of government” and education.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/07/19/2003651363