As a result of the tragic drowning of the six Chinese women who were thrown overboard by their traffickers, the Executive Yuan has decided to adopt measures to curb problems associated with illegal immigration. These measures include randomly interviewing couples that give reasons to suspect they are seeking bogus cross-strait marriages, and establishing an immigration bureau. Although belated, the proposed reforms are certainly a step in the right direction, since Taiwan is once again rapidly evolving into a vibrant immigrant society.
Taiwan has always been an immigrant society, in which settlers from China, Spain, Holland and other places pursued their dreams and found a new home. That of course all changed when the KMT regime retreated five decades ago and imposed tight controls on inbound and outbound travel.
By the end of last year, the number of foreign spouses married to Taiwanese alone had reached approximately 250,000. Foreign spouses come from a wide range of places. Toping the list is of course China followed by Southeast Asia. In fact, one in four brides last year came from abroad. This does not include all the foreign workers and other non-Taiwanese.
It is good to see Taiwan again becoming an immigrant society. Such societies typically offer greater diversity, increased innovation, more entrepreneurial ingenuity and greater social mobility. Moreover, this may slow the rapid speed at which the country's population is aging. According to the Alliance of Fairness and Justice, also known as the pan-purple alliance, if the status quo is maintained, 20 percent of Taiwan's population will be senior citizens by 2025.
In tune with all these developments is the government's plan to loosen immigration for professionals in various sectors and those seeking to invest in Taiwan. As for professionals, generally only those working in high-technology industries qualify for permanent residency. Reforms would make it easier for professionals from other industries to obtain permanent residency status. As for investors, their capital can balance the draining of local capital to China.
There are downsides and upsides to virtually every change. The many illegal immigrants seeping through the cracks create some very serious social problems and their presence may lead to even more serious crimes. According to the Mainland Affairs Council Chairwomen Tsai Ing-wen (
Tsai indicated that, effective Sept. 1, seemingly odd couples -- characterized by things such as a large age difference, a severely handicapped Taiwanese spouse and repeated marriage with different Chinese nationals by one Taiwanese -- will be summoned for government interviews to ensure that they are bona fide unions.
In the future, this task would fall into the hands of an immigration bureau. The establishment of a centralized immigration-regulation mechanism with sufficient powers would be able to effectively deal with Taiwan's immigration problems.
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers