US business leaders lashed out on Wednesday at legislation that would penalize companies for employing illegal immigrants.
Presenting its outlook for this year, the US Chamber of Commerce also expressed optimism for the growth prospects of the world's biggest economy, while renewing demands on China to get tough on copyright theft.
Chamber officials had an angry response to an immigration bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month that, among a raft of tough measures, imposes heavy fines on companies found employing illegal workers.
"This is a bill that's going to drag them [illegals] deeper into the shadows," the powerful business federation's vice president Bruce Josten said.
Chamber president Tom Donohue said that the US was a nation built on immigration, and added: "The argument that US companies want cheap labor is crappy."
The House bill, which has yet to be passed by the Senate, also deprived US President George W. Bush of his proposed "guest worker" program, a scheme backed by US businesses that would allow certain illegal immigrants to formalize their status.
Millions of US employers would be required to contact a verification system by telephone or through the Internet to ensure that a job applicant's Social Security number matches with one on file in the databank.
The number of illegal immigrants in the US is estimated conservatively at between eight million and 12 million.
A recent study by the US Congressional Budget Office found that one worker in seven in the US had immigrated, with more than 70 percent of them coming from Mexico and Central America.
On China, Donohue called for the US government to be "very aggressive" about intellectual property rights and encouraged Beijing to open up its currency regime more.
Over the longer term, China must find a way of marrying its political structures to its rapid-fire economic liberalization, Donohue said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
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