Premier Sean Chen yesterday said that the possibility of an influx of foreign workers crowding out Aborigines was an issue that “demanded attention.”
Fielding questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jeng Tian-tsair (鄭天財), an Amis Aborigine, during a question-and-answer session in the legislature, Chen said the Cabinet would discuss how it can address the problem properly.
Jeng raised concern over the Cabinet’s plan to relax restrictions on the recruitment of foreign workers to attract new investors and encourage China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to relocate their businesses to the country.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The government has estimated that the measures, which will take effect at the end of this year, for new investors who apply for investments in the next two years, would attract NT$200 billion (US$6.83billion) in investments, bringing in 80,000 foreign workers and creating 120,000 job opportunities for Taiwanese.
Jeng said that the policy would negatively affect Aboriginal employment.
“Between 2000 and the end of last year, there was an increase of 7,000 in the number of migrant workers. In the first eight months of the year, Taiwan recruited 12,000 extra workers from foreign countries. Now we will bring in an additional 80,000 foreign workers?” Jeng asked.
The incentives for investors would hit hard and fast on Aborigines, whose unemployment rate is already high, because about 30 percent of the Aborigines who are employed work either in the manufacturing or construction sectors, Jeng said.
Chen agreed with Jeng’s suggestion that companies may be required to provide employment opportunities for Aborigines to qualify for the investment incentives.
Separately, Independent Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) of the Atayal, KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) of the Sediq, and KMT Legislator Chien Tung-ming (簡東明) of the Paiwan urged Chen to speed up the drafting of an autonomy bill for Aborigines.
Chen said he has gone over the drafted bill initiated by the Council of Indigenous Peoples article by article, while talks between the council and local governments have been ongoing to review the feasibility of tribal self-governance projects as stipulated in the bill to make sure that the ideals of Aboriginal self-government can be realized.
“No one [in the Cabinet] is opposed to the idea of Aboriginal self-governance. We have been looking at how to implement the ideal idea,” Chen said.
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
‘RELIABLE PARTNER’: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar praised the ‘Taiwan model,’ saying that the nation brought its spirit to its COVID-19 response The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the US Department of Health and Human Services was yesterday signed at the Centers for Disease Control in Taipei. The memorandum was signed between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, by AIT Director Brent Christensen and Taiwan Council for US Affairs Chairperson Jen-ni Yang (楊珍妮). US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) witnessed the signing of the memorandum, designed to enhance the nations’
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday tweeted a welcome to Somaliland’s first representative to Taiwan, Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud, who arrived on Friday. Mohamoud had “braved Chinese pressure” to take up his new post, Wu wrote. “The fact ‘sovereignty & friendship aren’t for sale’ deserves international recognition,” referring to a Somaliland media report earlier this month that Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi had rejected an offer by the Chinese government in exchange for ending its rapprochement with Taiwan. Wu also thanked the US National Security Council (NSC) for praising Taiwan-Somaliland ties. A council tweet on July 10 praised Taiwan
The Taipei City Government yesterday said that construction on the long-suspended Taipei Dome can resume immediately, after it approved a request by the project’s main contractor, Farglory Group. In a statement, the Taipei Construction Management Office said that after it on July 16 issued a new building permit, Farglory submitted revised design plans and an application to resume construction, which the office approved on Friday. Construction had been suspended on the dome, near the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Xinyi District (信義), for more than five years due to disagreements between the city and the company over the safety of some of
RSS