Chinese citizens working aboard Taiwanese-owned fishing boats will be able to come ashore during the Lunar New Year holiday on a trial basis, officials said yesterday.
Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (
This will be the first time that Chinese fishery workers will be able to come ashore for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Council officials said the government hopes that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can cooperate in forging a viable mechanism for negotiating China's fishery-labor exports on an equal footing.
If China can make a goodwill response to this move, the officials said, the government is willing to further improve facilities for Chinese sailors or fishermen.
The council's Fishery Administration has drafted a comprehensive package of measures regulating the employment and management of Chinese citizens working aboard Taiwanese fishing boats.
"The timing for implementing the package will hinge on China's response to our moves," a Fishery Administration official said.
Given the cross-strait situation, the government must keep tabs on the identities of Chinese fishery workers and on relevant export certificates to facilitate the workers entry to coastal reception centers, the official said.
"If China declines to resume exports of fishery workers to Taiwan, we'll have difficulties obtaining those important documents," the official said.
"Without such documents or data, we'll have a hard time tracing Chinese fishery workers who flee, are kidnapped or break our laws after being allowed to come ashore," the official said.
Because there are no laws governing the handling of such workers or the provision of services for them, the Chinese are not allowed to come ashore -- except in emergency cases -- and have to live on floating hostels.
To protest the alleged poor treatment of its sailors, Beijing suspended the export of fishery workers to Taiwan at the end of 2001. However, the government has also taken steps to improve living conditions for such people. In the past year, special reception centers for Chinese fishery workers have been set up at major ports, including Keelung's Patoutzu, Hsinchu's Nanliao, Taichung's Wuchi and Ilan's Nanfangao.
"China should negotiate with Taiwan as soon as possible to pave the way for the early resumption of fishery-labor exports," the council official said.
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