An opposition lawmaker and a group of activists voiced concerns yesterday over a government proposal that seeks to increase the foreign labor quota from 35 percent to 40 percent as part of an effort to attract overseas Taiwanese investors.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said at a news conference that she welcomes the initiative to lure overseas Taiwanese businesspeople to return to the country, but added that the proposed increase to the foreign worker quota is the wrong approach.
The proposal outlined by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) on Aug. 30 will only worsen the issues of low salaries, unpaid leave and high unemployment in Taiwan, Cheng said.
Increasing foreign worker quotas to help the country’s economy is akin to quenching one’s thirst with poison, said Son Yu-lien (孫友聯), secretary-general of the Taiwan Labor Front, who also attended the news conference.
Son urged the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to review the proposal as the amount of foreign labor has already reached a record high of 440,000 and said the government should stop using foreign workers as a bargaining tool.
In response, Shiue Jain-jong (薛鑑忠), a section chief from the council’s Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, said that companies will only be able to hire more foreign workers if there are actual vacancies, as the proposal was merely based on supplementary principles.
The issue of increasing the quota has yet to be discussed via a platform that will include the CLA, CEPD, academics, politicians and representatives from employer and labor groups, he said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition