香港缘何暂停投资移民计划.

　　上周三，Alice Meng忙得不可开交，那天香港政府表示，将在次日暂停其投资者移民计划，这让数千名中国内地百万富翁的希望破灭。详细请看下面的双语新闻：

　　“It was busier than my wedding day — my phone didn’t stop ringing,” said Ms Meng, Hong Kong director of Globevisa, China’s biggest immigration company. She said her office received almost 150 applications that day, more than it normally handled in a month.中国最大移民服务公司——环球移民(Globevisa)香港负责人Alice Meng表示：“那一天比我的婚礼日还要忙碌，我的电话一直响个不停。”她表示，她的办公室当天接待了近150名申请者，超过往常1个月的接待量。

　　The Hong Kong government said the aim was to attracttalented individuals to the Chinese territory rather than merely wealth. “Hong Kong currently doesn’t lack capital for investment,” said CY Leung, Hong Kong chi executive, as he announced the suspension. “We need talent.”香港政府表示，暂停投资移民的目的是吸引优秀人才(而不仅仅是富人)到香港来。“我们需要的是人才的‘才’，不是钱财的‘财’，”香港特首梁振英(CY Leung)在宣布暂停投资移民时表示。

　　However, Kenneth Leung, an opposition lawmaker and tax expert who strongly supported the suspension, said a “good side-fect” will be assisting China’s anti-corruption campaign.强烈支持暂停投资移民的香港反对派立法会议员、税务专家梁继昌(Kenneth Leung)表示，一个“良好的副作用”将是协助中国内地的反腐运动。

　　“It will dinitely help Xi Jinping’s campaign to clamp down on corruption and illegal flows of money,” he said. “The money moved from mainland China to Hong Kong is really unchecked?.?.?.?That could be drug money or corruption money.”“这肯定会有助于习近平发起的打击腐败和非法资金流动的运动，”他表示，“从中国内地转移到香港的资金实际上不受审查……它们有可能是毒品资金或者腐败资金。”

　　The campaign, launched in late 2012, is driving manyrich Chinese to emigrate or transfer assets overseas. Chinese are applying for investor visas overseas in ever larger numbers, and Hong Kong is the top destination, according to a report last year by the Centre for China and Globalization, a Chinese think-tank.中国内地的反腐运动始于2012年末，这场运动正促使很多中国内地富人移民至海外或将资产转移到海外。根据中国与全球化智库(Centre for China and Globalization)去年的一份报告，申请海外投资移民的中国内地人数在不断增加，香港是首选目的地。

　　The visa programme, introduced in 2003 to attract foreign investment, granted residency to those who brought at least HK$10m ($1.3m) to the city’s financial markets. Almost 25,000 of the 40,000 applications received by September last year were approved, bringing in investment in excess of HK$200bn, according to government data. Chinese accounted for 90 per cent of all applicants.香港投资移民计划于2003年出台，旨在吸引外资，向那些在香港金融市场最少投资1000万港元(合130万美元)的人士提供香港居民身份。根据政府数据，在去年9月之前接到的4万宗申请中，近2.5万宗获批，共带来超过2000亿港元的投资。中国内地申请者占所有申请者的90%。

　　William Wat, an independent immigration consultant, said more than half his Chinese clients considered the programme “a springboard” for eventual emigration beyond greater China.独立移民顾问William Wat表示，他的中国客户中超过一半将该计划视为最终移民至大中华区以外地区的一个“跳板”。

　　“It’s like having insurance to have a Hong Kong identity first,” he said. “If you can transfer money here, it’s easier to transfer it anywhere else later.”“首先获得香港身份就像是取得了一份保险，”他表示，“如果你可以将资金转移到这里，那么以后再将资金转移到其他任何地区就更容易了。”

　　Although candidates from the mainland required permanent residency in a third country to be eligible, immigration experts say they could buy citizenship from some African countries, even without visiting.虽然来自中国内地的申请者必须拥有第三国永久居留权才能申请，但移民专家称，他们可以从一些非洲国家购买公民身份，即使他们从未到过这些国家。

　　Another aspect of the scheme’s appeal was that it did not scrutinise the source of applicants’ assets, immigration agents say. While a similar US scheme requires proof that investment funds were legally obtained, Hong Kong candidates merely had to show they held sufficient money for two years bore application.移民代理称，该计划吸引力的另一方面在于它不需要审查申请人资产的来源。美国类似的移民计划要求提供投资资金合法获得的证明，而计划移民香港的申请者仅需要证明他们在提出申请前的两年里持有足够的钱。

　　The programme seems to have suffered from last year’s pro-democracy protests, which scared off many applicants from the mainland, where state-run media carried heavy coverage of the “disruption” and “chaos” in the city.该计划似乎已经受到去年民主抗议活动的影响，这些抗议活动吓跑了许多来自内地的申请人。内地官方媒体对香港抗议期间的“中断”和“混乱”做了大篇幅的报道。

　　Eddie Kwan, chairman of EK Immigration Consulting, the biggest local immigration agency, said applications from well-off Chinese were down 30 per cent at his company last year, the first drop in recent years. The protests had dented confidence in Hong Kong’s stability, he said.香港最大的移民代理机构景鸿移民顾问公司(EK Immigration Consulting)董事长关景鸿(Eddie Kwan)称，去年该公司受理的富裕内地人士的申请减少了30%，这是近几年来首次出现下降。他说，抗议活动削弱了人们对香港稳定的信心。

　　“More and more mainland Chinese clients cancelled the application or delayed the investment since late September,” he said. “It became very obvious in October. They have to spend HK$10m on stocks, bonds, funds. So if [they think] Hong Kong is unstable, they will worry they might lose the money.”“自去年9月下旬以来，越来越多的中国内地客户取消申请或延迟投资，”他说。“这一现象在10月变得很明显。他们必须在股票、债券或基金上投资1000万港元。如果(他们认为)香港不稳定，他们会担心可能损失这些投资。”

　　Another factor may have been the problem of mainland investors affected adversely by a slowing property market and pressure in the shadow banking sector.另一个因素可能是内地投资者的问题，他们受到了房地产市场低迷以及影子银行业压力的不利影响。

　　Jacky Chang, director of Paochu Group, an immigration and investment business, said his clients started withdrawing from Hong Kong’s markets for the first time last year, with 10 per cent of them quitting the territory.专注移民与投资业务的Paochu Group负责人Jacky Chang说，去年首次出现客户开始退出香港市场的现象，他的客户中有10%离开了香港。

　　“For these clients, the protests became an excuse for giving up investment to save their face,” Mr Chang added.“对于这些客户来说，抗议活动成为他们放弃投资而又保全面子的借口，”Jacky Chang补充说。