Mon, Jul 29, 2002 page2

• MAC official seeks agency for cross-strait marriages

  POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Experts gathered yesterday to discuss prostitution and other problems created by agencies that use fake marriages for illicit purposes

  • By Lin Miao-Jung / STAFF REPORTER
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  Not a single government department is responsible for the management of private cross-strait marriage agencies, an official said yesterday.

  Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Jonathan Liu (劉德勳) made the remarks yesterday at a meeting sponsored by the National Policy Foundation (國家政策研究基金會), which was held to address the problems created by cross-strait marriages.

  Cross-strait marriage agencies, which are widely believed to charge exorbitant fees to Chinese women who wish to come to Taiwan, will frequently arrange phony marriages, and -- when the women arrive -- encourage them to take up prostitution, Liu said.

  According to a research report published by the Prospect Foundation, which focuses primarily on cross-strait issues, human smugglers reap huge profits from the trade between Taiwan and China.

  According to the Prospect Foundation, human smugglers tell Chinese women that they can make money easily in Taiwan, as long as they pay for their trip.

  The regular charge for the service is roughly 110,000 yuan (US$13,400), which includes a fake marriage to a Taiwanese national, which allows the woman to enter Taiwan.

  "These cross-strait marriage agencies contribute to the nation's social problems, but we do not have a single government department in charge of monitoring them," Liu said.

  According to Liu, government regulations state that marriage agencies are not allowed to profit from their services and the Ministry of Economic Affairs refuses to acknowledge such agencies as businesses.

  After the "newlyweds" enter Taiwan, the government lacks the tools to challenge a marriage's authenticity, Liu said.

  James Hsueh (薛承泰), a professor at the department of sociology at National Taiwan University, said that the government should coordinate its efforts and ensure that any related government agencies remain transparent.

  "There is a market over there, that's why those agencies are able to survive," he said.

  "Taiwan's economic situation is better than China's, that's why so many Chinese women want to come to Taiwan for illegal work via fake marriages."

  Hsueh said the government should begin to face the problems and set up a monitoring agency as soon as possible.

  Echoing Hsueh's point of view, Wang Ru-shiuan (王如玄), a lawyer and board member of the Modern Women's Foundation, said that the government should establish a department that tackles the problems caused by cross-strait marriages.

  "If Taiwan were to crack down on criminals who promote fake cross-strait marriages, Chinese nationals wouldn't risk coming to Taiwan," Wang said.

  In addition, Cheng Hsiu-lan (鄭秀蘭), the director of Chinese Relief Association's Relief Department, called on the government to pay more attention to Chinese brides who have difficulty adjusting to life in Taiwan.

  "Some cross-strait marriages are very real. It is our duty to give these women a better life in Taiwan because they are part of the society and their children are Taiwanese residents," she said.

  Cheng said that the education of the children of cross-strait marriages poses new problems because many Taiwanese husbands who take Chinese brides are mentally ill or have very little income to support their families.

  During the meeting, participants also touched on topics of domestic violence, the right of inheritance within cross-strait marriages and the human rights of Chinese brides.

  "Such problems can't be ignored," Cheng said.
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