Filmmaker Charles Heung and his son Jacky – both Beijing loyalists – have applied for residency in Taiwan, sparking concerns of mainland infiltration into the self-ruled island.

The Heungs have filed papers with Taiwan authorities seeking to reside in the island as dependents of Charles Heung’s wife, Tiffany Chen, she told Apple Daily on Thursday. Chen is a Taiwan native.

The senior Heung is the founder of film production company China Star Entertainment, which has produced numerous commercial hits in Hong Kong.

Their residency bid has raised security concerns in Taiwan due to their ties with the Communist Party, Taiwan media reports said.

Jacky, an actor, is also a member of China’s Communist Youth League, the reports said.

He and his father were among 2,600 showbiz figures who signed an open letter to support Beijing’s enactment of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong earlier this year, according to the reports.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law, now in exile in the United Kingdom, questioned why the pro-Beijing family were planning to move to Taiwan instead of staying in Hong Kong or the mainland.

“With their patriotism, they should stay in the Greater Bay Area and enjoy such glory for their whole life,” Law said on Facebook, adding the Heungs might not satisfy Taiwan’s migration requirements with their pro-Beijing backgrounds.

In 2017, Chen donated HK$7.77 million (US$1 million) to a fund founded by another Beijing loyalist and then-Basic Law Committee member Maria Tam. Last year, she slammed the United States on her Sinaweibo, China’s Twitter-like microblog, after the Senate passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

“China does not tolerate American interference in its internal affairs. I swear that I will never set my foot on the U.S. for the rest of my life,” she said at the time.

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