Taiwan has instituted new rules requiring residency applicants from Hong Kong and Macao to declare whether they have sworn allegiance to their respective governments, a measure that some observers believe is designed to prevent infiltration.

The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan said that applications could be refused if there were concerns that the residency candidates would harm the national interest. The council added that the applications would be handled in accordance with laws and regulations.

Authorities amended the application documents on June 1 to reflect the new requirement. Applicants are now told to list all their work experience post-graduation as well, whereas the previous version of the form asked only for work experience over the last 10 years.

Immigration consultant Garrick Cheung told Apple Daily that he believed the Taiwanese government had implemented the measure out of political considerations. Cheung added that before June 1, the authorities were already scrutinizing residency applications from Hong Kong civil servants, using different methods to determine whether a candidate might engage in spying.

He said that it was impossible to predict whether an applicant who previously pledged loyalty to Hong Kong would be denied residency in Taiwan, because the final decision was in the hands of the Taiwanese government.

Cheung predicted that the conditions for Taiwanese residency in the future would become stricter.

Political commentator Sang Pu said that the change reflected the fact that Taiwan was regarding the Hong Kong government in the same way as the mainland Chinese government.

Since the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, civil servants at all levels have been required to sign a declaration pledging to uphold the Basic Law and vowing allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Civil servants at higher levels also have to swear an oath to this effect.

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