Taiwan isn’t Southeast Asia (according to the standard definition). 
Might not be realized as Gold Card is currently under pressure because the numbers of holders who are actually living in Taiwan is below 50%!
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Salary is not the only way to qualify for reclassification. Skill certification can work too. There are training programs and two year associate degrees.
https://www.ida.gov.tw/ctlr?PRO=application.rwdApplicationView&id=1754
The global elite card programme will probably be lucky to get 10% of the holders continuously residing… unless they provide them a total exemption from income tax.
They won’t really get good statistics on that given it’s proposed that an Elite card holder can get APRC after 1 year, and the recent Gold Card statistic news likely didn’t also take Gold Card to APRC holders into account.
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I think this is the most recent one for which results have been released?
It looks like they do report people who went from a gold card to an APRC, but only among the respondents:
Additionally, around 2.4% (25 people) have gained permanent residency status via the Gold Card’s fast-track process.
Seems like immigration and the Gold Card Office should have easy access to that data though, i.e., the number of “active” gold cards and how many people switched to an APRC.
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One would think that, but … 
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I’ve been saying this many times. The program is both a failure and major slap in the face for APRC holders that have lived in Taiwan for many decades.
How so… plum blossom’s don’t even have to do a year on an ARC. What I’m curious to see is if it will be 183 days over 1 year, that would be enticing.
That’s all well and nice. However, it is just a card of convenience that cheapens an average APRC.
The vast majority holders don’t even live in Taiwan according to statistics.
But they might have commercial or investment connections to Taiwan. Different programmes with different aims.
Don’t need a special card for that… just give them an APRC if they are needed for those things.
They are making them work for it, 1 year on ARC, probably because a high salary on it’s own doesn’t cut it with Confucius way of thinking and/or it would otherwise pose a risk to the investment stream of plum blossom.
It might make people think do they go for the Plum Blossom card which has the pathway to dual nationality or do they go for the Global Elite card which would allow unlimited family stay visas for their parent’s.
Senior professional have the same rules as specalist professionals when it comes to the family visas
Does anyone know if this is actually being launched and when?
No it hasn’t. I would say that it might be possible to file an application by late next year.
These things take time. A change to the law is required. The NDC says it will introduce a bill during this session but it’s getting kind of toward the end. If they do, it’s possible they could pass it into law by next July. But it could easily be delayed longer even without all the chaos in the Legislature right now. Then they will need time to issue regulations and figure how to actually implement it.
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I do wonder what validity this global elite card will have, for example the gold card has a 3 year pathway to APRC and gold cards are only issued for 3 years… will the global elite card have a 1 year validity or will they be more sensible this time around and issue them with 3 or 5 years validity?
I don’t think we have those kind of details yet. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say 1-3 years since it has long been the case that residence is granted in 1 to 3 year increments. In practice, everyone would apply for and get three years just like they do with the Gold Card.
What is the problem with a three-year path to PR matched with three years for the Gold Card?
It only gives you three years to meet the requirement… some people have commiments elsewhere such as business trips and family. And even if you meet the requirement in the first 3 years there isn’t enough time to apply for aprc so you need to apply for second gold card or an extension, and you can’t have a break in that residence… it is essentially impossible to meet the aprc requirements on the first gold card alone.
Send link to the benefits pls