Mainlanders dodge restrictions on Taiwanese property purchases

Mainlanders are skirting rules aimed at limiting their purchases of property in Taiwan, where capital inflows from the mainland are an especially emotive issue.

Some Taiwanese feel priced out of the property market at a time when the government of mainland-friendly Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is trying to convince them of the advantages of closer economic integration with the mainland through a cross-strait trade pact.

"If mainlanders are in the market we don't even have a chance. What if, in the end, those who live in Taiwan aren't Taiwanese but Chinese?" said Melissa Hu, a public servant in Taipei.

The government in Taipei has been criticised by some for not imposing more restrictions on mainland ownership of Taiwanese real estate.

A senior official from the Taiwanese interior ministry, Shih Ming-shih, said that the government had imposed strict measures to prevent mainlanders from buying too many homes because that "would jeopardise our national security or economic development".

"If people do not apply legally, there is no way we can stop that, but they have to bear the risk of losing the properties they bought," Shih said.

Some property agents said loopholes that allow mainland buyers to get around restrictions made it difficult for Taiwan to take meaningful action.