Letter: Human rights, my foot

In a recent editorial ("Naysayers ignore Chen's success," May 14, page 8) you state that "Taiwan is a democratic country that places a high premium on respect for human rights."

Taiwan is a country where human rights issues have been receiving much exposure recently, no more so than in this newspaper. Taiwan is a country where, amongst other things:

1. Foreigners married to Taiwanese lose their rights of residency on divorce and subsequently have to leave the country, regardless of the fact that they may have children or property here.

2. Foreign workers here, particularly Asians, can be forced to leave the country on the whim of an employer, without notice and with no right of appeal.

3. Taiwanese women, if found guilty of adultery, can go to prison, whilst Taiwanese men do not.

I was wondering, does your editorial writer ever read their own newspaper, or am I living on a different planet?

Tony Goodwin
Banciao