The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday strongly protested claims by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Cambodian women living in Taiwan were ill-treated.
During a visit to China last month, Hun was quoted saying that more than half of the 2,500 Cambodian women living in Taiwan do not possess legal identity papers or official approval, after they were misled into going to Taiwan for work or to marry a Taiwanese man.
Hun Sen said some of the women had been sold to brothels and forced to work as prostitutes.
He said he had refused Taipei's offer to open up a representative office in Phnom Penh because of the mistreatment of Cambodian women by Taiwanese, not because Phnom Penh wanted to pander to China.
"The prime minister's claim could not farther from the truth," ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (
In a press release, the ministry said the 4,500 Cambodianss residing in Taiwan had received equal and adequate care.
A minor percentage of them, the statement said, are ineligible for legal resident status in Taiwan because the Cambodian government did not provide them with the proper documentation, which showed that the Cambodian government has long neglected to take care of its citizens while they are overseas.
The ministry also protested Hun's comments that Taiwan has no right to join the UN because of its non-state status.
Taiwan was an independent sovereign nation with every right to be part of the global body and people of Taiwan are entitled to hold a referendum on the issue to decide for themselves, the ministry said in the statement.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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