TAIPEI, Taiwan — Government data released yesterday showed that 623 Taiwanese people gave up their R.O.C. citizenship in 2016, with most of them replacing it with South Korean, Japanese and Singaporean citizenship, in that order.

The remaining became citizens of Germany (49), the United States (43), the Philippines (17) and Vietnam (17), the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said.

More women than men gave up their R.O.C. citizenship. According to ministry data, 333, or 53.45 per cent, were women, compared to 290 men,

In 2016, 189 people who previously had renounced their R.O.C. citizens applied to regain citizenships, a 43-person decrease compared to the number of 2015, the MOI said.

Of those who regained their citizenships, 124, or 65.61 per cent were females, and 65, or 34.39 per cent were males.

The majority of those (55.56 per cent) who regained their R.O.C. citizens had been Japanese citizens, with 13.76 per cent Singaporeans, the MOI said.

Read also: Singaporeans now hold the world’s most powerful passport

We all know for a fact that actress Julia Roberts is gorgeous. But to prove that she’s otherworldly kind of gorgeous, the Pretty Woman actress has just been crowned 2017’s ‘World’s Most Beautiful Woman’ by People magazine.

And this isn’t the first time 49-year-old Roberts has bagged the headline-worthy title. The magazine – which started ‘The 50 Most Beautiful People in the world’ list in 1990 – has named her the ‘Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ for a grand total of five times, according to People.com.

Responding to her win this year, Roberts told People that she is “very flattered.”

To celebrate this, we’ve compiled our very own list of gorgeous Asian celebs who we think are equally beautiful. Now scroll through the gallery to find out if your favourite stars have made it to our list.

Carina Lau, actress

We all know that award winning actress Carina Lau has acted in countless movies and some of her most iconic ones include Days of being wild, 2046 and Internal Affairs.

Off-screen, the 51-year-old actress also assumes the role of businesswoman and designer. Her fashion label Anirac (if you’re wondering, yes it’s her name spelt backwards) was established in 2015. She’s also recently presented her new A/W’17 collection at the Shanghai Fashion Week.

Shu Qi, actress

Shu Qi may be every man’s dream girl (erm sorry guys, she’s already taken), but she’s also earned recognition on her acting over her career.

The movie actress won her first performance award as a Best Supporting Actress at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1997. Since then, she’s been nominated and won numerous awards at ceremonies including the Golden Horse Awards.

Her role in Chinese action movie The Assassin also saw her taking home the Best Actress trophy at the 10th Asian Film Awards last year.

Dee Hsu, host

She’s a humourous host, sexy mum and budding movie actress. On screen, the entertaining Dee Hsu is mostly unafraid of poking fun at herself as well as other celebrities.

Since 2004, she’s been co-hosting famous Taiwanese entertainment show Kangsi Coming. That’s until last year when the show wrapped up after her co-host Kevin Tsai tendered his resignation.

Boasting a bubbly personality and bombshell figure, Hsu is one of the top Taiwanese celebrities to have consistently attracted endorsements ranging from shampoos and skincare to fashion and lingerie.

Selina Jen, singer

Selina Jen is a popular singer and member of Taiwanese girl pop group S.H.E. With 12 albums under its belt, the group has enjoyed tremendous success in the Mandopop world and held world tours in multiple cities including Singapore, Beijing and Sydney.

Jen’s personal life has taken a front seat especially after she suffered third-degree burns on her body at a shoot in Shanghai. The 35-year-old singer, who was married to lawyer Richard Chang, initiated and filed for a divorce last year.

Fan Bingbing, actress

Chinese mega star Fan Bingbing has certainly come a long way after her period drama My Fair Princess. Besides being a leading lady, Fan is now a television producer with her own production company called Fan Bingbing Studio.

In 2009, she produced a 36-episode television series titled The Last Night of Madam Chin, featuring co-stars Taiwanese actor Vic Chou and our very own Ah Jie Fann Wong.

Successful career aside, Fan is also in a romantic relationship with dishy actor Li Chen. The pair fronted fast fashion label H&M’s Chinese New Year campaign earlier this year.

Liu Wen, model

Fashion girls will find Liu Wen very familiar. The Chinese fashion model has walked numerous runways and fashion shows including Chanel, Victoria’s Secret and Burberry. Liu has also fronted fashion and beauty campaigns like H&M, Calvin Klein and Estee Lauder.

The 29-year-old model made headlines earlier this year for being the first Asian to grace the cover of American Vogue, reported CNN. That isn’t something all models can claim so kudos Liu!

The cover (see above) featured fellow models Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Ashley Graham, Vittoria Ceretti, Imaan Hammam and Adwoa Aboah.

Kim Tae Hee, actress

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Maria Clariz Faylona, 23, went missing on April 2.

Her naked body was found seven days later.

Erica Jean Rosal, 20, left home on Jan. 4.

Two days later, she was found dead, her face smashed beyond recognition and her hands tied with a nylon rope behind her back.

Maria Clariz and Erica Jean were the fifth and sixth victims of what police said were mysterious cases of disappearances and murder of women in the city.

Before Maria Clariz and Erica Jean, four other women had gone missing and their bodies found but police said the cases were unrelated.

They saw no common link.

The only thing common among the cases was they were all unsolved.

Maria Clariz’s family had gone looking for her and ended their search in a grave site in the village of Pasonanca, barely 2 kilometers from their home.

Village officials said they had found the naked body of an unidentified woman, who turned out to be Maria Clariz, and buried it.

The remains of Maria Clariz bore signs of heavy beating-her face was smashed beyond recognition.

“We didn’t immediately recognise her,” said her elder brother, Julius.

“It was the tattoo on her nape and her slippers that confirmed to us that it was her,” he said.

Sign of torture

In January, Erica Jean’s body was found in another village, Lunzuran, with the same sign of torture – a face smashed beyond recognition.

Erica Jean’s could be typical of the cases of disappearances of women and the discovery of their bodies days, or months, after they were last seen alive.

According to Chief Insp. Arlan Delumpines, chief of a police station in the city, Erica Jean left home on Jan. 5 to sleep over at a classmate’s house supposedly for a school project.

On Jan. 5, she left her classmate’s house to return home.

She never did.

On Jan. 6, Erica Jean’s body was found some 7 km from the village of Baliwasan, where her classmate lived.

Her remains were dumped on a vacant lot under a tree.

The cases of Maria Clariz and Erica Jean sowed fear among residents who still remember previous other cases of women disappearing only to be found dead later.

Such was the case of Maricel Macrohon, a 33-year-old laundry woman, who was found dead in Townville Subdivision on Oct. 4, 2016.

It was also the case of two women, still unidentified and estimated to be 20 to 30 years old, who were found dead six months ago in the village of Limpapa.

No one came forward to identify them until they were buried in a grave site for unclaimed bodies.

Previous cases

Previous to those cases, on Nov. 12, 2015, Mary Jane Herrera, 16 and a high school student of the Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial High School, left home to meet classmates for a school project and to practice dancing.

She never returned home.

A month later, her family’s search for Mary Jane ended in a house in the village of Pasay where workers digging a deep well accidentally found a skeleton still wearing a school uniform, with a school bag and ID.

It was Mary Jane.

“We ask law enforcers to please, do your job,” Julius, Maria Clariz’s brother, said.

“This appeal is not just for us, this is for everyone. You have children and we have children who may be victimized next.”

Gail Rosal, Erica Jean’s aunt, said the family believed that Erica Jean’s and Maria Clariz’s cases, at least, were related.

Erica Jean and Maria Clariz belonged to the same dance group and studied in the same school, Zamboanga State College of Marines Science and Technology.

Brazenness

“The killers are confident that they will not be caught because, as you can see, they continue to commit crimes,” Gail said.

“I am deeply saddened by the statement of the police that these killings are not related,” she added.

“I hope they keep their eyes open, instead of dismissing all these gruesome crimes as unrelated,” she said.

Police had said that Erica Jean, a graduating student, could have been raped before she was killed.

The cases worried Melinda Villavieja, a 54-year-old mother of four.

“No one has been put to jail,” she said.

Sonny Boy Jalani, head of the group Crime Watch Volunteer here, said law enforcers should exert extra effort to solve the crimes and protect women.

Senior Supt. Luisito Magnaye, city police chief, said though the killings remain unsolved, police continued to follow leads.

“So far, we haven’t seen any indication that a serial killer was involved,” Magnaye said.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said she had asked police to solve the cases, but fell short of imposing a deadline.

She instead urged parents to keep a close watch on their children.

“It’s important that parents must have supervision of their children,” the mayor said.

An academic has voiced concerns over privileges to be granted to foreign investors under the proposed Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) legislation, especially in regard to 99-year land leases.

Somnuck Jongmeewasin, a lecturer at Silpakorn University’s International College, said local people could end up being treated as “second-class citizens”, as there will be many exemptions to Thai law and regulations under the EEC bill.

Earlier last week, Cabinet approved in principle the EEC bill, which will be reviewed by the Council of the State before being considered by the National Legislative Assembly.

Critics have expressed worries over the long 99-year land leases that would be allowed to encourage foreign investors to invest and do business in special economic zones designated under the EEC Bill.

Somnuck said more than 100 Thai laws and regulations would be amended or suspended in order to facilitate foreign investment under the bill so that foreign businesses can enjoy special privileges in Thai territory.

“This will be just like Hong Kong in the colonial era. Thai laws will not be fully enforced within the special economic zones under the EEC Bill and local people could be downgraded to be just second-class citizens,” Somnuck said.

“Under this bill, around 10 laws and more than 100 articles will be waived for the establishment of the EEC and this will eliminate some legal protections in regard to the rights of Thai citizens.”

The government’s plan is to offer up to 631,000 rai (100,960 hectares) of land in the three eastern provinces of Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong to attract foreign investors, with laws and regulations waived in order to extend more privileges to foreign investors.

“If local people are lucky enough not to be driven from their land for special economic zone development, they will find themselves alienated in their own homeland, as all the regulations and resources will only provide benefits for foreign investors,” he said.

The order by the National Council for Peace and Order to waive city planning rules within special economic zones is still in effect, so the EEC committee can choose any land within the three provinces to develop special |economic zones regardless of municipal regulations.

Moreover, under to the EEC |Bill, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) would be conducted by a separate team of specialists focusing exclusively on the EEC, which raises questions about EIA standards.

Aside from the large land grab from local people to accommodate foreign conglomerates, Somnuck said foreign investors would also enjoy privileges such as tax exemptions for banking, renting property and buying residences inside the EEC zones.

“This means that there will be entirely new cities for foreign investors including housing, commercial areas, hospitals and international colleges. They will not only be industrial parks like before,” he said.

“Foreign investors can also trade using foreign currencies directly without having to exchange it into Thai baht within the EEC areas.”

Many have said the EEC Bill will boost the region and country, but Somnuck said the policy was unlikely to lead to true economic development because foreign investors could bring in specialists and experienced workers from other countries.

“Not only we will not learn from their technology, foreign investors can also set up in industries that we are good at, such as agricultural processing or tourism, and compete with our businesses,” he said.

Residents of Sengkang in Wajo regency, South Sulawesi, were shocked after a man was found dead inside a hotel room.

The body was discovered by a room clerk at a budget hotel on Jl. Andi Macca Amirullah in Tempe district at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The dead man was naked and wore a condom.

The hotel’s CCTV footage showed that the man had visited the hotel with a woman at 11.45 a.m. on Saturday. They went straight to the room.

Police are still investigating the case and searching for the woman.

“We did not find any identity [document] on him,” Tempe Police chief Adj. Comr. Ilyas Dohan said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Police confiscated two opened condom packages and a motorcycle from the crime scene as potential evidence and sent the body to the Lamaddukelleng Regional Hospital for an autopsy.

“We are still waiting for the report from laboratory to find out the reason of his death,” Wajo Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Noviana Tursanurrohmad said.