The recent wave of riots in France -- the worst the country has seen since the 1968 student revolts -- indicates that the integration of immigrants has become an explosive issue in France. In fact, most of the nations in Western Europe have yet to properly handle the issue of multicultural integration. Over the past 10 years, advanced European countries have been plagued by ethnic tensions resulting from immigration. These tensions should serve as a wake-up call for Taiwan, which is also composed of different ethnic groups and faces similar immigration issues.
The World Bank recently released a report entitled International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain. The report said that the reason developing countries cannot catch up with developed countries is because around 30 percent to 50 percent of the talent in developing countries has moved to developed world. However, not all the immigrants in developed countries are skilled workers. If these people cannot quickly adapt themselves to their new home, then social problems relating to education, crime and discrimination in the workplace will certainly arise.
In Taiwan, young people with higher incomes tend to get married later in life and usually do not want to have too many children. However, some men in the middle or lower income brackets face various socio-economic constraints that compel them to marry brides from China or Southeast Asian countries. While higher income couples actively practice birth control, these lower-income couples often produce large families. The result is that birth patterns for various socio-economic groups have become unbalanced.
Similarly, Taiwan has certain characteristics that belong to an immigrant society. Earlier immigrants sometimes oppressed, discriminated against and even exploited newcomers. There is also a gap between the Chinese or Vietnamese brides and the Taiwanese. Some people tease or discriminate against children whose mothers are foreigners, especially those from developing countries.
Children who suffer discrimination will often grow up with distorted personalities, and their anger, lack of self-confidence and other factors often make them a source of social disorder. From a political perspective, the imbalance within socio-economic groups easily leads to a polarization of society, destroying the middle class. A political system without the support of a middle class quickly becomes a hotbed of extreme or even fascist policies.
These are the contradictions and conflicts brought about by political, cultural and racial differences. Rectifying the imbalances in our society resulting from a failure to integrate workers from developing countries is a matter of considerable importance. If we do not get it right, we may also risk social implosion in the coming decades.
Johnny Lin is a staff member of the Democratic Progressive Party's department of Chinese affairs.
---Translated BY DANIEL CHENG
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with