Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday said his office would help publicize the nation’s human rights situation after a report by the US State Department mentioned persistent human rights problems in Taiwan.
When approached for comment on his way to the Legislative Yuan, Su said the government remained highly confident of Taiwan’s human rights status.
“The GIO will take the initiative to communicate the situation in Taiwan to our friends around the world or to organizations that care about human rights in Taiwan,” Su said.
Su’s comment came after the US State Department’s latest international human rights report said that human trafficking, abuse of foreign workers, discrimination, violence against women and government corruption in Taiwan persisted although the nation “generally respected” human rights.
The report expressed concerns about violence against women, saying that “rape and domestic violence remained a serious problem” in Taiwan. The report said that foreign spouses were targets of discrimination both inside and outside the home, adding that arranged marriages through brokers degraded women who are often treated like property.
The report said child abuse remained a serious problem in Taiwan, adding that there appeared to have been a “significant increase” in the number of boys forced into prostitution over the past year.
The report named Taiwan as a destination for human trafficking from other nearby nations and also cited “reports of women being trafficked from Taiwan for sexual exploitation purposes to Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries.”
The report was critical of official corruption in Taiwan and political influence in the judicial system, saying that numerous politicians had publicly questioned the neutrality of prosecutors and judges in several “high-profile and politically sensitive cases.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said it had no comment on the report except to say it respected the views of the US State Department.
When asked why the state department had begun referring to the nation simply as “Taiwan” rather than “China (Taiwan only),” as it had done prior to last year, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) said Taiwan had filed numerous complaints against “inappropriate” nomenclature to the state department’s Taiwan Desk.
He said, however, that the change was not policy-related and should not be interpreted as an indication that the US has altered its policy toward Taiwan.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
Also See: EDITORIAL: 228: Vigilance still has a role to play
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
RSS