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Minggu, 14 April 2024

'We shall win,' says Netanyahu after Israel repels Iranian drone and missile attacks - The Straits Times

An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on April 14. PHOTO: REUTERS

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (centre) during a War Cabinet meeting at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Israel's Iron Dome intercepts missiles launched from southern Lebanon, near Kiryat Shemona, in northern Israel, on 14 April. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

JERUSALEM - Israel will achieve victory after having fended off an Iranian drone and missile salvo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on April 14.

“We intercepted, we repelled, together we shall win,” he said in a brief post on X.

Iran launched a swarm of explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on April 13 in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, risking a major escalation as the United States pledged “ironclad” backing for Israel.

Sirens wailed and Reuters journalists in Israel said they heard distant heavy thuds and bangs from what local media called aerial interceptions of explosive drones. The ambulance service said a 10-year-old boy was critically injured.

Israel’s military said more than 100 drones were launched from Iran, with security sources in Iraq and Jordan reporting dozens seen flying overhead and American officials saying the US military had shot some down.

Israel’s military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted outside Israeli borders. They included more than 10 cruise missiles, he added.

The Iranian salvo amounted to more than 200 drones and missiles so far, he noted, and had caused light damage to one Israeli military facility. He said the engagement had not ended, and Israeli forces were still intercepting incoming threats.

Iran has vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Revolutionary Guards officers, including two senior commanders. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack. REUTERS

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2024-04-14 04:50:00Z
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Sabtu, 13 April 2024

Kuala Lumpur International Airport shooting leaves one injured; Malaysian police launch manhunt for suspect - CNA

PUTRAJAYA: One man was severely injured in a shooting incident at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 arrival hall on Sunday morning (Apr 14).

Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said that during the incident that occurred at 1.30 am, a man fired two shots with one of the shots hitting a local man who was also a bodyguard.

“The police have identified the suspect and launched an operation to track down the suspect who is believed to have fled to the north,” he said in a statement.

He said the incident originated from a personal issue and is unrelated to terrorist activities or groups.

“Investigations found that the suspect had intended to shoot his wife, who was waiting for the arrival of an Umrah group,” he said. Umrah refers to a minor pilgrimage which can be performed all year round.

The victim sustained severe injuries from the shooting, he added.

The motive of the incident is still under probe, with the case being investigated as an attempted murder under section 307 of the Penal Code and the Firearms Act.

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2024-04-14 03:56:00Z
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Not quite the Bali it used to be? This is what overtourism is doing to the island - CNA

Still, Bali wants to have more visitors to make up for lost time, and lost tourism receipts, when the pandemic laid waste to its economy. In 2021, only 51 foreign tourists visited the island, compared with 6.3 million in 2019.

Last year, that number was close to 5.3 million, exceeding the target of 4.5 million. This year, Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, has raised the benchmark to seven million, cited Bali tourism chief Tjok Bagus Pemayun.

“That’s quite high,” Tjok told the programme Insight. “Hopefully, we can reach the target because many airlines have added flights to Bali.”

CONCRETE CANGGU

The influx of tourists is not just giving rise to occurrences of misbehaviour, however. It is putting a strain on resources and tarnishing Bali’s image because of rampant development, overcrowding and gridlock.

WATCH: Bali’s love-hate relationship with tourism on Indonesian island paradise (46:24)

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2024-04-13 22:00:00Z
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No motive found yet for killer shot dead after stabbing 6 people to death at Sydney mall - The Straits Times

People leaving Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Police said they did not believe the incident was a terrorist attack, but were still investigating. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Dozens of police and ambulances were seen outside the shopping complex. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the shopping centre after the stabbing incident. PHOTO: AFP

Police blocking the main roads leading to the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Armed officers standing guard outside Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

SYDNEY – Police in Sydney have yet to uncover the motive of a mass murderer who went on a stabbing spree at a shopping mall on April 13, killing six people and bringing Australia’s largest city to a standstill.

The attack began at around 3.20pm when a man armed with a knife started stabbing people at the Westfield mall in Bondi Junction, a well-known shopping centre that is close to the popular Bondi beach.

He continued his attack – apparently calmly – as he moved to different levels of the centre, sending terrified shoppers scrambling for safety. Many locked themselves inside shops or hid inside storerooms.

The man, who was wearing an Australian rugby league team T-shirt, killed five women and a man, and injured eight others, before being shot and killed by a lone police officer.

The officer, who happened to be near the shopping centre and had rushed to the scene, chased down the man and shot him after he turned to face her and raised his knife.

She was later hailed as a “hero” by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said she had prevented further deaths.

Police said on the night of April 13 that they did not believe the incident was a terrorist attack, but were still investigating.

The man was 40 years old and known to police, but was not suspected to harbour terrorist beliefs, police said.

“There is nothing we are aware of at the scene that would indicate any motive or any ideology,” Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke of New South Wales Police told reporters.

Police said the attacker had apparently been acting alone, and that closed-circuit television footage showed him entering the mall at 3.10pm and leaving shortly thereafter, before returning again.

The victims included a mother, who was killed, and her nine-month-old baby, who was taken to hospital after being stabbed in the stomach.

A witness told Nine News the man “wasn’t going for anyone personally”.

“It looked quite random, he was just running around with his knife,” the witness said.

The attack brought terror to a relatively safe city whose residents typically do not live in fear of serious security threats.

Police patrolling in front of the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Australia has some of the world’s toughest gun and knife laws, and its terrorism threat level was lowered in 2022 to “possible”, which is the second-lowest of five ratings and indicates that the authorities believe “there are fewer violent extremists (than previously) with the intention to conduct an attack onshore”.

But the attack in Bondi Junction, about 6km from the central business district, brought instant fear that reverberated across the city.

Helicopters could be heard circling above the mall as sirens blared from dozens of police and ambulance vehicles that rushed to the scene. The city’s residents were advised to stay away as the mall was locked down.

An emergency evacuation message seen near the main entrance of the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Mr Ayush Singh, 25, had been working in a cafe in the mall when he saw the attack.

“I saw the guy with the knife running and chasing people,” he told Reuters.

“As he walked just past me, I heard two or three gunshots, and the guy was neutralised. People around me were terrified. There were some old ladies, I helped to get them inside a safe place inside the cafe.”

The attack was the worst mass killing in Sydney since an arson attack at a nursing home in 2011 killed 11 people.

It also revived memories of a siege at a cafe in the city centre in 2014 by a crazed gunman who killed two people before being shot by police.

Mr Albanese described the attack as a “horrific act of violence” that targeted people indiscriminately as they were shopping on “an ordinary Saturday”.

He told reporters on the night of April 13 that he had been briefed by the Australian Federal Police and the domestic spy agency.

“For all of us tonight, the devastating scenes at Bondi Junction are beyond words or understanding,” he said.

“We understand that the Australian public will be very shocked by this event... The motives are not known yet. And speculation on that would not be helpful at this time.”

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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters the man had not yet been formally identified, but was known to police.

“We know a little bit about this person, but we are waiting to confirm his identification,” she said.

“If, in fact, it is the person we think it is... it is not a terrorism incident.”

A young woman who had been shopping at the mall told Sky News she heard a woman screaming, “help me, help me”, and then saw police running into the centre before hearing four gunshots.

“As soon as the gunshots went off, everyone just ran into the shops,” she said. “We went to the back (of a department store) and ran into a locked room. Then we had to evacuate, and people were running onto the streets.”

People walking out of the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall after a stabbing incident in Sydney on April 13. PHOTO: AFP

Ms Pranjul Bokaria, who had been shopping when the attack occurred, told AFP she ran to a nearby shop and took shelter in a break room.

She said she escaped to a backstreet through an emergency exit with other shoppers and staff, describing a scene of “chaos” as people ran from the mall and police swarmed the area. “I am alive and grateful,” she said.

Police said the mall will be shut on April 14.

Several journalists happened to be among the shoppers at the mall when the attack began, including an SBS News reporter who began live-streaming a report from outside.

Another member of the media, Mr Roi Huberman, a sound engineer for ABC News, said he was in a shop at the mall when he heard several gunshots.

“We didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Then the very capable person in the store took us to the back where it can be locked. She then locked the store, and then she let us through the back, and now we are out.”

The owner of a salon in the mall, Ms Leanne Devine, told ABC News she had become aware of the attack when she saw “hundreds and hundreds of people” running out of the centre.

“It was absolutely horrific,” she said. “We are in shock mode. We are traumatised.”

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2024-04-13 14:30:00Z
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Return of the relics: China's push to reclaim its lost treasures - The Straits Times

(Clockwise from left) A bronze horse head, a 3,000-year-old bronze water vessel and a 2,800-year-old bronze ritual vessel were among 30 artefacts believed to have been stolen from Shanxi province. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES, CANTERBURY AUCTION GALLERIES, XINHUA

BEIJING – Proudly displayed on a stage at the National Museum of China late in March was a row of centuries-old Buddha heads and sculptures that had recently journeyed across the Taiwan Strait.

They were among 30 artefacts, mostly believed to have been stolen from central China’s Shanxi province, that had been donated to Beijing by a Buddhist association in Taiwan.

This was the largest return of relics to mainland China from Taiwan in recent years, state media reported.

And they are the latest in a series of lost artefacts to have found their way back to Beijing, as a resurgent China steps up efforts to bring its national treasures home.

Since the turn of the century, China has actively sought the return of its cultural relics that had been stolen or taken abroad.

This pursuit has become more prominent under President Xi Jinping, who has demonstrated a personal interest in protecting such artefacts – and with it China’s history and national pride.

His state visit to Rome in 2019 saw Italy return almost 800 cultural artefacts to Beijing, hailed as the largest repatriation of artefacts to China in over 20 years.

“Cultural relics and cultural heritage carry the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation,” he has said.

Lost and found

China has lost over 10 million cultural relics since the First Opium War began in 1840, according to estimates from the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics.

Some of these were looted during wartime – most famously during the sacking of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace or Yuanmingyuan, by Anglo-French forces in 1860, which China regards as a national shame.

Some were stolen and smuggled out of the country by tomb raiders and mercenaries – locals and foreigners alike.

And still others were either gifted to foreigners or exported legally out of China.

Since Mr Xi came to power in 2012, China has secured the return of over 1,800 lost relics, official figures say.

Among the most prominent are artefacts that had been taken from the Yuanmingyuan, a resplendent Qing dynasty complex of palaces and gardens that housed many imperial treasures.

A bronze sculpture of a horse head that once adorned the Yuanmingyuan’s famed zodiac fountain clock – featuring 12 animals that spewed water to tell time – was purchased at an auction in 2007 by the late Macau billionaire Stanley Ho. He donated it to the Chinese government in 2019.

A bronze horse head, formerly part of a zodiac water fountain at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. It was purchased at an auction for US$8.9 million by late Macau billionaire Stanley Ho in 2007, and donated to the Chinese government in 2019. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Separately, the rat and rabbit heads from the same fountain were donated to China in 2013 by the wealthy French Pinault family, which had significant business interests in China.

The zodiac heads are worth millions of dollars.

Another recovered Yuanmingyuan treasure that has made waves is the Tiger Ying, a 3,000-year-old bronze water vessel shaped like a teapot. It is so named because its spout and lid have casts of tigers.

The vessel was put up for auction in the UK despite China’s protests. It was purchased by an anonymous Chinese individual, and donated to China in 2018.

A 3,000-year-old bronze water vessel known as the Tiger Ying, so named because its spout and lid have carvings of tigers. PHOTO: CANTERBURY AUCTION GALLERIES

Other artefacts have gained attention not just for their value, but for the narratives told of their recovery.

When Feng Xingshu Gui, a 2,800-year-old bronze ritual vessel, was returned to China in 2024 by an American entrepreneur and his mother, the head of China’s national cultural heritage administration lauded this as a significant achievement following from a meeting between Mr Xi and US President Joe Biden.

A 2,800-year-old bronze ritual vessel known as the Feng Xingshu Gui, which was returned to China by an American entrepreneur and his mother in 2024 after they learnt that it was a stolen relic. PHOTO: XINHUA

Homecoming tales

Stories of lost relics “returning home” have been widely publicised in recent years, stoking the Chinese public’s support for repatriation efforts.

Most notably, state broadcaster CCTV in 2021 ran a segment on this in China’s most-watched TV programme – its annual Chinese New Year Eve gala show (chunwan).

The segment showed how an overseas Chinese individual in Japan helped to purchase a stolen Buddha head that had surfaced for auction there. He then donated the artefact, which had been removed from a cave wall in Shanxi’s Tianlongshan Grottoes, back to China.

Mr Zhu Chengru, deputy director of China’s national committee for the compilation of Qing dynasty history, said in a 2022 article that the chunwan segment had increased the level of public attention on the issue of lost relics.

“We have to increase research on the lost relics, recognise the value in having Chinese relics abroad, and promote the return of relics to the motherland through various means,” he wrote.

Fictional takes on the recovery of artefacts too have resonated with local audiences.

In a short web series titled Escape From The British Museum that was released in 2023, the tale of a homesick jade teapot – an anthropomorphised artefact from the museum’s collection – finding its way back to China drew over 270 million views within two weeks of its release on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

Ways and means

In the past, China had made sizeable state-linked purchases of its lost artefacts on the open market.

In 2000, the state-owned enterprise China Poly Group purchased three Yuanmingyuan bronze heads – the ox, tiger and monkey – at auctions in Hong Kong. Their total cost was nearly US$4 million (S$5.45 million).

And in 2002, the government set up a special fund to buy cultural artefacts from abroad, with an annual allocation of 50 million yuan (S$9.6 million). Its first purchase was a scroll by Northern Song calligrapher Mi Fu, which cost just under 30 million yuan.

But this approach has been controversial. Experts say that it inflates the price of the relics, and compromises China’s ability to recover stolen artefacts through legal channels.

Law professor Huo Zhengxin from the China University of Political Science and Law told Chinese state media in 2020 that if state-owned enterprises participate in the auction of stolen artefacts, it suggests that the Chinese government recognises the legitimacy of such auctions, potentially hindering future efforts to recover its relics via legal means.

Today, the state’s approach appears to lean more heavily on other channels, such as cooperation with foreign governments, and donations from private entities, who are patriotic, well-meaning, and/or have received Chinese goodwill.

In 2019, the US sent 361 stolen artefacts seized from the home of an American citizen back to China, while Italy did the same with 796 relics that were thought to have been illegally exported out of China. These amounted to more than half of the relics recovered under Mr Xi’s tenure.

The 30 Buddhist artefacts donated by Taiwan’s United Association of Humanistic Buddhism, Chunghua, were from “warm-hearted” overseas Chinese collectors, said a representative from the association.

To recover its relics, the Chinese government has signed agreements with more than 20 countries – including the US, Australia, Italy and Greece – to facilitate bilateral cooperation.

It has also rolled out measures such as an online database of looted artefacts, and tightened domestic laws to prevent the illegal outflow of such items.

And it continues to search for more levers for the recovery of artefacts. In 2022, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a political advisory body, held a meeting to discuss how the recovery of lost cultural relics could be improved.

Global treasure hunt

China is not alone in seeking to reclaim its lost treasures.

Greece, for example, has long pushed for the return of its Parthenon marbles, among other lost artefacts.

And Nigeria has been in pursuit of its Benin bronzes, along with other relics from the ancient kingdom of Benin.

This common cause has not gone unnoticed in China.

When then Greek president Prokopis Pavlopoulos asked Mr Xi in 2019 for support in the country’s efforts to reclaim the Parthenon sculptures, Mr Xi replied in the affirmative, noting that China too was working to bring its lost artefacts home.

“Not only do I support you, we should also take action together,” he said in televised remarks.

At the CPPCC meeting in 2022, Mr Qiu Xiaoqi, a former Chinese ambassador to countries like Spain, Brazil and Mexico, floated the idea of establishing an “alliance for the pursuit and return of cultural relics”.

Involving countries that had experienced colonial oppression and shared China’s feelings about the return of lost artefacts, the alliance could generate “international moral pressure” on those that held such relics, he said.

Under Mr Xi, who has spoken extensively about how China is a civilisation with a long history and in 2023 announced a “Global Civilisation Initiative”, China’s efforts to claw back its lost relics are likely to continue apace – potentially with more help from some friends.

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2024-04-13 05:20:00Z
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What an open war between Israel and Iran could look like - The Straits Times

An anti-Israel billboard displayed in Teheran, Iran, on April 12. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

The US and its European allies fear that an April 1 attack in Syria that killed several Iranian officers could push Israel and Iran to the verge of something they have avoided for decades: Open war.

Until now, Iran, with one exception, has used proxies to attack Israel, while Israel has avoided airstrikes on Iranian soil.

Now Israel is bracing itself for retaliation for the strike in Damascus, a prospect provoking fears of a regional conflict.

How might a war between them be fought?

At this point, the two likeliest scenarios appear to be a missile barrage into Israeli territory, either from proxies in Lebanon, from Iran itself, or a swarming drone assault.

A more remote possibility is that Iran could also direct proxies to deploy militants on the ground from Syria or Lebanon.

The one precedent for Iran attacking Israeli territory came in 2018, when Teheran fired rockets from Syria on positions in the Golan Heights.

The details of Iran’s current capabilities contained in a United States Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment released with little fanfare on April 11 suggested that any Iranian attack on Israel would likely be a combination of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones.

“Teheran’s missile force is increasingly augmented by Iran’s UAVs and serves as the regime’s primary conventional deterrent against attacks on its personnel and territory,” the agency said.

It added that Iran has a “substantial inventory” of ballistic and cruise missiles capable of striking targets 2,000km away – putting Israel well within range.

Israeli fighters would be expected to strike back, including those in its fleet of stealthy F-35I Adir and non-stealthy F-15I fighters. An F-35 made aviation history when the Israeli Air Force announced in November that it had shot down a cruise missile from the south-east headed towards Israeli airspace.

Israel scrambled navigational signals over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area early this month in preparation for an Iranian attack, a showcase of its capabilities.

Another likelihood is cyber war. More than a decade ago, malware known as Stuxnet compromised operations at an Iranian nuclear enrichment facility in what was suspected to have been a United States and Israeli operation.

Iran has also launched attacks of its own, including a hack that sought to cripple computers and water flow for two Israeli districts, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

How do Israeli and Iranian military capabilities compare?

Israel’s forces are vastly superior to Iran’s when it comes to technology. Iran, however, has massive stockpiles of cheap but effective weapons in its arsenal.

Since 2022, Iran has provided more than 1,000 Shahed-136 UAVs, as well as Shahed-131 and Mohajer-6 UAVs, to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In May, Iran began assisting Russia in establishing a Shahed-136 UAV production facility in Russia, according to the DIA. So it is safe to assume that Iran has hundreds if not thousands of one-way drones in its inventory to attack Israel.

Israel would counter ballistic missiles with its Arrow interceptors and drone attacks possibly with David’s Sling air defence systems and perhaps with a system called Drone Guard made by ELTA Systems.

People in Teheran on April 5 attend the funeral procession for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Syria, which Iran blamed on Israel. PHOTO: AFP

Who are their allies? What roles might they play?

Iran’s most important allies are the Shi’ite militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen that it supports with money, weapons and training.

The Lebanese militia Hezbollah would be positioned to play the most significant role.

It has fought repeated battles with Israel and has been regularly firing missiles, mortars and rockets into northern Israel since war broke out in October between Israel and the Iran-backed militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Hezbollah’s arsenal contains more than 70,000 rockets and missiles, including long-range and precision-guided missiles, according to Israeli intelligence.

An escalation of its attacks on Israel could test the country’s defences at a time when it was also confronting Iran and Hamas.

Iran’s only state ally in the Middle East is Syria. The government of President Bashar al-Assad would be unlikely to be of assistance, given that it is still struggling to gain control over the entire country following the outbreak of civil war in 2011.

Iran has good relations with Russia, though its war in Ukraine would likely limit its ability to help, and with China, which has bought Iranian oil though it remains sanctioned by the US and allies.

Israel has the US on its side. Already the US is expediting shipments of munitions to Israel, to help it fight Hamas. Among the US forces in the Middle East region are two Navy destroyers that moved to the eastern Mediterranean in early April, according to a Navy official: the USS Carney and the USS Arleigh Burke, both capable of air defense.

Early in the Israel-Hamas war, the Pentagon moved its newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, and its battle group into the eastern Mediterranean. It has since returned home.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group is on its way from operations against the Houthis. Each bristles with F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets and other advanced aircraft.

In addition, 2,000 Marines were put on heightened alert for potential mobilisation.

How might Arab states react?

An Israel-Iran war would put many of the countries in the region in a difficult position.

Four Arab countries made peace deals with Israel in 2020 via the so-called Abraham Accords. Their distrust of Iran was part of what brought them together.

But it is unlikely any Arab state would stand with Israel in a confrontation against a fellow Muslim country, let alone one as powerful as Iran.

Iran and Saudi Arabia last year restored diplomatic relations after a seven-year freeze. Saudi Arabia has been exploring the possibility of normalising ties with Israel as part of a broader deal in which it hopes to attain US security guarantees, and it would likely try to avoid become embroiled in the conflict. BLOOMBERG

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2024-04-13 09:38:00Z
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Global talent race: As people flock to Hong Kong's elite visa scheme, questions emerge on criteria and diversity - CNA

As of end-February this year, Hong Kong authorities have received 72,000 applications under the TTPS as reported by Chinese news outlet China Daily. Around 59,000 have been approved.

In comparison, Singapore has approved about 4,200 applications under its own elite visa scheme - the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass) - as of Jan 1 this year, one year since it was launched.

Elsewhere in Asia, Thailand’s Long-Term Resident visa programme, which seeks to attract wealthy individuals and/or talented professionals, has attracted 1,600 applicants since it opened in September 2022, according to an East Asia Forum article published in January last year.

Analysts suggest the difference in criteria is a key factor in the numbers disparity, particularly between Hong Kong and Singapore. Mr Kenneth Peh, Director of Global Employer Services at Deloitte Hong Kong, pointed out the “relatively less stringent” requirements for the TTPS compared to Singapore’s ONE Pass.

Singapore’s ONE Pass is aimed at talents from any sector who earn a monthly salary of S$30,000 and above, or have “outstanding achievements” in the areas of science and technology, arts and culture, research and academia, or sports.

As for Hong Kong’s TTPS, people with annual taxable employment or business income of at least HK$2.5 million, working out to about S$36,000 monthly, are eligible to apply. But this is just one of three categories they can choose to apply under.

Graduates from a list of eligible universities - the top 100 under four designated world rankings - with at least three years of recent work experience are also eligible to apply for the scheme.

Those with less than three years of work experience are eligible as well, subject to an annual quota allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

This essentially means graduates with limited or even no work experience could possibly secure what Hong Kong brands as a visa for top talent. The city does not provide a breakdown of which category TTPS applicants applied under.

The TTPS takes a “unique approach” in the region, Mr Tang said. Citing Hong Kong’s “remarkably low” unemployment rate of 2.9 per cent between November 2023 and January 2024, he explained this makes it particularly challenging for businesses to hire new talent, especially if they are trying to expand the workforce.

Unlike some programmes that focus solely on senior-level professionals and entrepreneurs or specific communities, Mr Tang said the TTPS aims to attract those with strong academic backgrounds and more than three years of relevant work experience, which is "ideal" for filling critical mid-management vacancies.

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2024-04-12 22:00:00Z
CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5jaGFubmVsbmV3c2FzaWEuY29tL2FzaWEvaG9uZy1rb25nLXRvcC10YWxlbnQtcGFzcy1zY2hlbWUtdmlzYS1lbXBsb3ltZW50LWdsb2JhbC10YWxlbnQtcmFjZS1tYWlubGFuZC1jaGluZXNlLTQyNjA0NzHSAQA