According to recent newspaper reports, the German Marshall Fund of the US, an institution dedicated to promoting better understanding and cooperation between North America and Europe on transatlantic and global issues, released the results of its third-annual “Transatlantic Trends: Immigration” survey on Feb. 3.
The survey investigated the general attitude toward immigration among adult citizens in eight countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean: Canada, the US, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
The situation in the UK and attitudes toward immigration are worth examining. Of note is the finding that, of the eight countries studied, British people were found to have the most negative attitudes toward immigrants.
This is despite the fact that the UK does not have the highest immigration rate among these countries, its unemployment rate is lower than that of both France and Italy and it has suffered much less -immigration-related social unrest in recent years than France has.
More than half of all British people, for example, feel that immigrants are crowding them out of jobs they could otherwise have taken, therefore stealing their livelihoods.
Another piece of news that echoes the results of the immigration survey was British Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech on Feb. 5, in which he declared that the multicultural approach that had been implemented by previous British governments had failed.
According to Cameron, the new Conservative-led government was considering a different approach and would adopt measures intended to build a stronger national identity among people living in the country.
If we look at these two reports together, it seems that it would be difficult for the UK to avoid a new wave of anti-immigration sentiment, as the longstanding policy of multiculturalism is reaching a crucial crossroads.
In the past few years, the ongoing eastward expansion of the EU has resulted in a great increase in the visibility of immigrants from eastern Europe throughout British society. In a society where the unemployment rate has been close to 8 percent for some time, this could well result in the deepening of the negative attitudes toward immigration among many people.
Although Cameron did not actually spell it out in so many words, it was very likely that the main factor behind his statement was the extremist activities and statements by some Muslims in the UK following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, together with concerns about the breakdown in social order that this extremism could lead to.
The British example makes it very clear that even in a society with a rich and longstanding multicultural experience, there still exist many different possibilities and factors that could set off a backlash that would affect the past willingness of the local population to accept immigration.
Although it is very unlikely that there is a comprehensive set of preventative policies and measures that could help us deal with this kind of reversal in attitudes, we should promote long-term efforts to enhance education, push for immigration friendly policies and elevate the economic status of immigrants.
This would most likely be the best and most effective way to prevent a situation similar to the current anti-immigration trend in the UK from occurring in Taiwan.
Chi Chun-chieh is a professor at National Dong Hwa University’s Institute of Ethnic Relations.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations