The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday issued updated guidelines to protect the rights of foreign students interning in Taiwan, including clearer rules on student eligibility, internship stipends and working hours.
Under the revised guidelines, students must be enrolled at overseas universities officially listed by the Ministry of Education, the MOEA’s Department of Investment Review said in a news release.
Students must have completed at least one semester of study before coming to Taiwan and be of an age appropriate for their program. They must also be studying a field related to their internship and have basic Chinese or English communication skills to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the internship, the department said.
Photo: CNA
Speaking to reporters before a meeting, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said a total of 1,805 foreign students were approved to intern in Taiwan last year, with their internships covering the food and beverage, logistics and manufacturing sectors.
Interns must be paid no less than the minimum wage, including scholarships and living allowances, Kung said.
Working hours are limited to eight hours a day and 40 hours per week, and interns may not be scheduled to work between 10pm and 6am without their written consent, to prevent them being overworked.
Taiwan’s minimum monthly wage, effective on Thursday last week, is NT$29,500, while the hourly rate is NT$196.
Meanwhile, the MOEA reiterated that interns must also be covered by appropriate insurance provided by the internship host, including at least group accident or occupational accident insurance.
The ministry said it would conduct joint inspections with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Labor, on an irregular basis as part of oversight measures.
Internship providers that violate the rules can be barred from hosting foreign interns in Taiwan for six months.
Addressing concerns that the updated guidelines could raise costs and prompt pushback from some businesses, Kung said foreign interns “should not be treated as cheap labor.”
Without elaborating, he added that the ministry has other support measures for companies undergoing upgrades or restructuring and believes the guidelines would strike a balance between business development and intern protections.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS