Local labor rights groups staged a demonstration in Taipei yesterday against what they said was the illegal import of Chinese workers by electronics manufacturers in Taiwan.
According to the groups, Chinese workers were brought to Taiwan under the guise of being highly skilled professionals, who are -legally allowed to stay in Taiwan for extended periods, but were discovered working in factories operated by Young Fast Optoelectronics Co, ASE Group and AU Optronics Corp.
Chu Cheng-chi (朱政麒), a spokesman for the protesters, said such illegal activities could be behind the sharp increase in Chinese businesspeople and highly skilled professionals visiting Taiwan in recent years.
Citing statistics from the -National Immigration Agency, Chu said 180,000 applications by Chinese businesspeople and professionals to visit Taiwan were approved last year, up from 90,000 the previous year. As of August, more than 160,000 such applications had been -approved, with the total number expected to top 200,000 by the end of this year, Chu said.
He said the situation, if proven true, would run counter to the government’s promise “not to open Taiwan to Chinese laborers,” and he demanded that the agency and the Council of Labor Affairs investigate the matter.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine reported on Wednesday that the practice was especially widespread among major electronics manufacturers that have a strong commercial presence in China. The allegations have prompted opposition lawmakers to urge the -government to crack down on -companies using Chinese labor in Taiwan under false pretenses.
Speaking in an interpellation on the legislative floor on Friday, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said that the council had never issued any work permits to citizens of the People’s Republic of China, as stipulated by the Act Governing Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
According to Article 95 of the act, introducing workers from China into Taiwan would require approval by the Legislative Yuan, Wang said.
Addressing the issue at the same session, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) suggested that companies or organizations inviting Chinese citizens to Taiwan for training should have them wear special vests to prevent people from “trying to pass fish eyes for pearls.”
He added that Taiwan would not allow Chinese citizens to enter Taiwan for employment under the guise of receiving training or attending courses.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS