The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) rebutted reports yesterday that it had been working on regulations that would allow Chinese citizens to apply for work permits.
Chen Yi-min (陳益民), director-general of the CLA’s Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said his office had not been drafting regulations to allow Chinese to receive work permits because the government had not opened the job market to Chinese workers.
He made the remarks in response to a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that said the CLA was making preparations for Chinese workers to enter the job market by drawing up regulations, “paving the way for Chinese-funded companies operating in Taiwan to hire Chinese white-collar professionals to work in Taiwan.”
Discounting the report, Chen said that the administration had no plans to open the job market to Chinese workers. He also said it was difficult to draw a line between white-collar and blue-collar workers.
“Whether Taiwan opens its job market to Chinese workers will depend on the development of the domestic job market and how cross-strait relations unfold,” he said.
Chen also said that professionals from China, including property developers and real estate operators, were allowed to come to Taiwan for short periods under Article 10 of the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
“No Chinese professionals or workers are allowed ... to come to Taiwan for long-term employment,” he said.
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