Taiwanese citizens would be allowed to work in the Czech Republic without a work permit or employment card beginning early next month, a Czech government minister said.
Czech Environment Minister Petr Hladik on Wednesday reaffirmed that Taiwan would join Prague’s list of non-EU countries whose citizens can freely enter the central European country’s labor market, although he did not specify an exact date.
The measure was approved in December last year.
Photo: CNA
In addition to citizens from EU member countries, citizens of Australia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Israel and Singapore have been entitled to work in the Czech Republic since July last year.
Taiwan had initially been set to join the list last year, but could only be added after the Czech Republic changed the law to recognize it as an "independent judicial jurisdiction," rather than a "country," which Prague is unable to do as it observes China’s "one China" policy.
The Czech Ministry of Labor said that the countries on the list are global economic powers, and the Czech Republic seeks long-term cooperation with them.
Exempting Taiwanese jobseekers from work permits would reduce the administrative burden for prospective employers and encourage Taiwanese workers to enter the Czech job market, the ministry said.
However, Taiwanese citizens must still "apply for a residence permit according to standard procedures," according to a Czech government Web site, since "free access to the labor market does not provide foreigners with the right to reside in the territory of the Czech Republic."
According to data from the Czech Ministry of Labor, as of the end of June last year, 185 Taiwanese were working in the country.
Citizens of the Czech Republic currently require a valid work permit to legally work in Taiwan.
There were 108 Czech nationals residing in Taiwan last year, according to data from the National Immigration Agency published in February last year.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin (東引), after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been a persistent cause of concern for Taipei, whose government has on several occasions blamed Chinese ships for intentionally causing damage. Dongyin, home to about 1,500 people, sits in a strategic position at the top of the Taiwan Strait and the island has a heavy military presence. It does not have an
RSS