As next Saturday’s elections draw nearer, candidates from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are busy trying to secure additional support. They are either going around electioneering or attacking their opponents to get more media exposure. At times like these, politicians — be they pan-blue or pan-green — suddenly start paying a lot of attention to new immigrants who are voting for the first time.
Now, all three presidential candidates are saying they are “Hakka” and visiting Aboriginal villages, donning traditional Aboriginal clothing and pretending they are Aborigines — all in an attempt to gain votes. It would probably be safe to predict that when the next presidential election comes around, the candidates will all be referring to themselves as “new immigrants.” That is actually right, because the only distinction that can be made between people living in Taiwan is who got here a bit earlier and who got here a bit later. We are all immigrants in a sense. The problem is politicians do not realize this most of the time, but come election time, every presidential candidate suddenly develops an interest in “genealogy.” This is nothing but a trick to get people to vote for them.
The 450,000 spouses from China and Southeast Asia in Taiwan are in a minority, accounting for 2 percent of the population. Of these, 190,000 have already obtained citizenship and the right to vote. If they all voted for the same person, they could easily elect a legislator of their own choice. Unfortunately, there are no quotas for new immigrants and the election system distributes them across different areas, eroding their potential voting power. Like many other disadvantaged groups, they only get any attention at election time.
Tsai’s election slogan reads: “Thank you, Taiwan,” while Ma keeps talking about respecting cultural diversity. However, neither Tsai nor Ma has come up with a concrete response to the discrimination experienced by Chinese spouses and Southeast Asian women in their daily lives.
The legislative caucuses of both parties have also ignored calls to amend the fourth clause of the Nationality Act (國籍法), which makes it very hard for new immigrants who lose their spouse or foreign women who get divorced to gain citizenship, telling immigrant organizations that this is not a priority amendment and that it cannot be initiated. By letting immigrants wait in vain for such a simple amendment, how can they claim that they are concerned about their plight?
Furthermore, neither the KMT nor the DPP has responded to any of the many calls from immigrant groups that regulations requiring that interviews be held outside Taiwan for prospective immigrants from 20 different countries be abolished, that the time span for allowing Chinese spouses to obtain citizenship be the same as for other foreign spouses, that amnesty be granted to Chinese spouses who are in Taiwan illegally, and that regulations demanding that new immigrants renounce their original citizenship before they can become naturalized Taiwanese be removed.
Ma and Tsai have both made comments about implementing mother-tongue education for children, but neither has shown a willingness to include Southeast Asian languages as “local languages” alongside Hakka and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese). All they have given is a bunch of empty promises.
In a survey conducted on Workers’ Day in 2009 into the troubles faced by foreign spouses, the Taiwan International Family Association found new immigrant spouses had become the new bottom rung of the labor ladder — with no labor or medical insurance and working long hours for low pay. Although Tsai has talked about technical training and employment incentives, this is just another slogan so far, and it is obvious she has no grasp of the problems that many new immigrant workers face on a daily basis.
We are sick and tired of seeing politicians only show an interest in disadvantaged groups at election time and we are even sicker of the means these political hacks use to gain votes. We urge new immigrants voting for the first time to see things clearly and be careful to elect politicians who are concerned with the issues that they face.
Lorna Kung is an adviser to the Taiwan International Family Association.
Translated by Drew Cameron
There is a modern roadway stretching from central Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa, to the partially recognized state’s Egal International Airport. Emblazoned on a gold plaque marking the road’s inauguration in July last year, just below the flags of Somaliland and the Republic of China (ROC), is the road’s official name: “Taiwan Avenue.” The first phase of construction of the upgraded road, with new sidewalks and a modern drainage system to reduce flooding, was 70 percent funded by Taipei, which contributed US$1.85 million. That is a relatively modest sum for the effect on international perception, and
At the end of last year, a diplomatic development with consequences reaching well beyond the regional level emerged. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state, paving the way for political, economic and strategic cooperation with the African nation. The diplomatic breakthrough yields, above all, substantial and tangible benefits for the two countries, enhancing Somaliland’s international posture, with a state prepared to champion its bid for broader legitimacy. With Israel’s support, Somaliland might also benefit from the expertise of Israeli companies in fields such as mineral exploration and water management, as underscored by Israeli Minister of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) challenges and ignores the international rules-based order by violating Taiwanese airspace using a high-flying drone: This incident is a multi-layered challenge, including a lawfare challenge against the First Island Chain, the US, and the world. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defines lawfare as “controlling the enemy through the law or using the law to constrain the enemy.” Chen Yu-cheng (陳育正), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, at Taiwan’s Fu Hsing Kang College (National Defense University), argues the PLA uses lawfare to create a precedent and a new de facto legal
Chile has elected a new government that has the opportunity to take a fresh look at some key aspects of foreign economic policy, mainly a greater focus on Asia, including Taiwan. Still, in the great scheme of things, Chile is a small nation in Latin America, compared with giants such as Brazil and Mexico, or other major markets such as Colombia and Argentina. So why should Taiwan pay much attention to the new administration? Because the victory of Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast, a right-of-center politician, can be seen as confirming that the continent is undergoing one of its periodic political shifts,
RSS