First China, now Taiwan: Super-rich Taiwanese families looking to relocate to Singapore amid tensions & fears of forced reunification

An “exodus of wealth” from China to places such as Singapore has been ongoing over this past year, and now, amid the rumours of the possibility of China using force to bring about a reunification with Taiwan, more ultra-wealthy Taiwanese are considering relocating, or at first, moving their assets, to Singapore.

“The rich really want to find a backup solution. Some of them want to have a second passport somewhere else,” Jacky Li, the head of Standard Chartered’s Greater China private banking team for its wealthy clients, is quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post on Saturday (Dec 3). 

Fund managers and private bankers told SCMP that exit strategies are now in the works among rich families in Taiwan, with plans to relocate both businesses and family members to Singapore.

There has been an uptick in inquiries from such families, some of whom desire the safety net of an additional passport. Some have told a banker in Taiwan from a US firm that certain developments in the past few months, which include the continued rule of President Xi Jinping and the visit of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August, have spurred on their decisions to relocate.

The banker, who spoke to SCMP anonymously, said, “It’s not a short-term mindset. It’s not a refugee route but it’s more for long-term planning. It’s to create a way out potentially for their children and grandchildren.”

SCMP also quoted another banker as saying that an uptick in transfers to Singapore may happen in the next one to two years, out of a desire to move quickly.

And in Singapore, property agents have also seen an increase in interest from people from Taiwan, who bought 107 apartments so far, the highest in 10 years data from Knight Frank shows.

Foreigners are allowed to buy private flats in Singapore.

“For Taiwanese buyers, it’s all about risk management. They don’t know at the end of the day whether there would be an escalation [of cross-strait tension]. They always try to guard against risks and do things a few steps ahead. It’s in the event they need to evacuate or situations like that,“ Clarence Foo, a senior associate division director at property agent Propnex Realty, told SCMP. /TISG

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