Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) yesterday apologized for her comments on the planned recruitment of Indian migrant workers that have been labeled as “racist” by some Indian media outlets.
Taiwan and India on Feb. 16 signed a memorandum of understanding signaling a willingness to make India a source of migrant workers.
In an online interview about the plan with talk show host Wang Shih-chih (王時齊) on Monday, Hsu said the ministry would first recruit Indian workers from northeastern India because “their skin color and dietary habits are closer to ours.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In addition, the Indians there are “mostly Christians” who are adept at manufacturing, construction and farming, Hsu said, explaining that the strategy was based on Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessments.
At the legislature yesterday morning, Hsu apologized for her “inaccurate” comments that caused “misunderstanding.”
The nation’s labor policies, whether directed at local or foreign workers, are crafted with equality in mind and are never discriminatory, she said.
She praised Indian workers’ abilities and performance in the interview because she hoped to highlight these attributes, she added.
Hsu’s comments drew criticism from Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party, who in a video posted on social media “strongly condemned” her comments, arguing that skin color and race should not be criteria for recruiting migrant workers.
In a statement issued late on Monday, the Ministry of Labor apologized for Hsu’s “inaccurate” choice of words, saying that the minister’s comments were not meant to be discriminatory.
Some Indian news outlets reported Hsu’s remarks after the ministry issued the apology, with at least one branding them as “racist.”
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also apologized for what it called “less than appropriate” narratives by government agencies regarding the planned recruitment of Indian workers that sparked criticism internationally and domestically.
The plan has been controversial since Bloomberg first reported in November last year that “Taiwan could hire as many as 100,000 Indians to work at factories, farms and hospitals.”
Hsu denied the report, calling stories related to it “fake news,” but she has not put a number on the potential number of migrant workers from India.
At the time, Hsu urged people not to discriminate against specific nations.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to