Amid rising tensions between Taiwan and the Philippines, rights advocacy groups yesterday urged the public to refrain from verbally or physically attacking Filipinos living in Taiwan.
“It’s not just Filipinos; all immigrants from Southeast Asia in the country would feel threatened when walking on the streets,” TransAsia Sisterhood Taiwan executive secretary Ly Vuoch-heang (李佩香), who is an immigrant from Cambodia, told a news conference in Taipei.
“I’ve not been attacked, because I’m from Cambodia, but I don’t feel comfortable when people keep asking me whether I’m from the Philippines when I’m just going to buy lunch,” she said.
Tensions between Taiwan and the Philippines have been on the rise since Philippine Coast Guard personnel on May 9 opened fire on a Taiwanese fishing boat, killing a fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
While the two countries have not been successful in reaching an agreement in dealing with the aftermath, a seemingly anti-Philippine sentiment has been developing among the public in Taiwan. Some communities have held rallies saying that they do not welcome Filipinos, vendors in a market in Changhua County posted signs saying that they would not conduct business with Filipinos and, most recently, a Filipino migrant worker in Greater Tainan was attacked on Thursday by four people whose identities are not known.
“It’s not right to vent anger you may feel toward the Philippine government on Filipino migrant workers — when you even think about attacking these hard workers, please think of their contribution to Taiwan’s economy,” Taiwan International Workers’ Association policy researcher Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said.
Chen accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of attempting to encourage people to vent their anger on Filipino workers as he has become a target of criticism for mishandling of the incident, “otherwise he would not have waited until now to ask people not to do so.”
Taiwan Committee for Philippine Concerns convener Hsia Hsiao-chuan (夏曉鵑) said that Philippine migrant workers are also victims of their own government.
“More than 100 political dissidents have been murdered since Philippine President Benigno Aquino III took office,” she said. “Filipinos are also victims of their own government, hence they should not be regarded as the same as the Philippine government.”
On Wednesday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安), who hails from the same constituency in Pingtung County as Hung, said on his Facebook page that “the perpetrator who fired on our fishing boat is the administration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, not the Filipinos. We must not vent our anger on innocent Philippine nationals in Taiwan, because doing so would only result in a deepening animosity.”
“These vulnerable Filipino workers have been doing their duty. They were not the thugs who initiated the shooting,” Pan said.
A number of netizens echoed Pan’s call by urging the public not to use Philippine nationals as scapegoats, nor to complicate the matter.
Meanwhile, some netizens and Pingtung-based Filipinos dismissed allegations of victimization in their area.
“Over the past decades, the nation has seen quite a few fishermen from Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港) being detained and even killed by the Philippines. Yet, has anyone ever seen a Filipino being chased down and beaten on the streets of Donggang?” a netizen wrote.
A Filipino spouse in Pingtung’s Chaojhou Township (潮州), who identified herself as Lin Li-na (林麗娜), said all her co-workers were easygoing and friendly toward her.
Chen Chi-lan (陳季嵐), proprietor of the restaurant where Lin worksw, said Lin had a positive work attitude and always managed to finish her work, no matter how demanding it was.
“She is optimistic and constantly has a smile on her face, and really gets along well with her colleagues,” Chen said.
He added that despite their indignation over the shooting and the escalating diplomatic row between Taipei and Manila, Lin’s relationship with her peers was not affected.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi and Cheng Shu-ting
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
INCENTIVES: The province’s ‘21 measures’ include enhanced agricultural loans for Taiwanese farmers, and rent waivers and housing subsidies for Taiwanese start-ups China’s Fujian Province on Monday began implementing 15 economic measures targeting Taiwanese in its latest bid to fan pro-Beijing sentiment ahead of the Jan. 13 elections. Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency said the policies were part of “21 measures” unveiled in September by China for Fujian’s “integrated cross-strait development demonstration zone.” The partially implemented measures, which were created with input from Beijing, include reducing the wait time for Taiwanese applying for a visa from 20 days to five days and free public transit for Taiwanese older than 65, it said. Residents of Taiwan were granted use of the “all provincial Taiwanese entrepreneur compatriot
RSS