The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has approved a proposal to set up a committee that will address the needs of the nation’s growing number of immigrant spouses.
The committee is to be composed of 11 to 19 members, half of whom would be new immigrants, the party said on Wednesday last week.
Committee members — which may include non-DPP members — and the chairperson are to be appointed by the DPP.
The committee chairperson’s tenure will be concomitant with that of the DPP chairperson, the party said.
Taiwan Women’s Link secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬), who is to serve as the committee’s chief executive, said that she hoped the inclusion of new immigrants in the committee would help the DPP better understand the group’s needs.
The committee will act as an intermediary between new immigrant spouses and the government, DPP spokesman Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) said.
Its aim will be to safeguard the rights and well-being of those spouses, Ruan added.
The committee will help the government become more multicultural in its outlook and promote exchanges with different cultures, he said.
Tsai said Taiwan Women’s Link had a program that encouraged second-generation immigrants to visit their parents’ home countries to learn more about their roots.
The committee will hold a series of conferences with city and county governments across the nation to gather more input about the daily challenges that new immigrant spouses and their children face, Tsai said.
“We hope these women will feel that Taiwan is their home and that we are here to support them,” she said.
There are about 500,000 immigrant spouses in the nation, including about 150,000 from Southeast Asia, making them the country’s fifth-largest demographic, Ruan said.
“These women are found throughout the country toiling away for Taiwan,” Ruan said, adding that the DPP has a responsibility to hear their concerns.
“Let us join hands with this community to help Taiwan become the friendliest multicultural society,” he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan