HK residents seeking help asked to call Taipei office

Hong Kong people seeking humanitarian assistance ans asylum could to contact the Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office office on its two hotlines – 2700-3799 and 2397-1088 – for consultations, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, Minister Chen Ming-tong said Thursday.

The Taiwan government will establish an office in Taipei next month to offer humanitarian assistance to Hong Kong people, including those who wish to seek asylum.

The office in Taipei will open under the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council, a semi-official organization founded by the government in 2010 to handle communications with Hong Kong authorities, Chen said.

The new Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office will have three sections, for consultation services, project management, and administration, Chen said at a press conference. It will offer consultations to Hong Kong-based businesses and NGOs that wish to relocate to Taiwan, Chen said. In addition, the office will provide a one-stop service to Hong Kongers who wish to study, conduct business, make investments, or seek asylum in Taiwan, he said.

The decision to establish the new office followed a directive by President Tsai Ing-wen to the MAC last month to devise a plan to facilitate "residency rights, settlement and social assistance" with regard to Hong Kongers arriving in Taiwan.