A group of DPP legislators yesterday urged the government to reassess its immigration policy in a bid to prevent foreign spouses from abusing the system and generating social problems in the country.
"Given the culture and language differences, many foreign brides find it hard to assimilate into Taiwanese society," DPP Legislator Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖) said at a joint press conference held with colleagues Chien Chao-tong (簡肇棟), Lin Yu-sheng (林育生) and Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬).
"As a result, a social storm is slowly taking shape in Taiwan with issues concerning their children's education, property inheritance, broken homes and the like," Tang said.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The legislators said many Southeast Asian brides, casting greedy eyes on Taiwan's comfortable living, have taken advantage of the nation's lax immigration rules to gain citizenship and thus enjoy all the rights and benefits citizens enjoy such as national health insurance and social welfare.
"Such cases are especially frequent with foreign brides from Vietnam, who blatantly ignore law and order but seek immigration loopholes to earn citizenship not just for themselves but also for their kin back home," Tang said.
According to Tang, there are numerous cases of Vietnamese spouses who, after obtaining citizenship through marriage to Taiwanese, demand an immediate divorce. They then remarry Vietnamese laborers working here before taking them, along with kin from Vietnam, to apply for citizenship in this country.
"This is not only unjust to Taiwanese husbands victimized by these marriages, but these cases also generate many tricky issues such as broken homes, children's education, property inheritance and the like," Chien said, urging the government to heighten its immigration regulations to prevent false marriages, especially as numerous foreign spouses have in the past turned out to be prostitutes.
Su also urged the government to strengthen its consultation services for foreign brides to help them to become more acquainted with the country.
According to a report presented by Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) at a Cabinet meeting last month, as of the end of last year, more than 87,000 foreign women had married Taiwanese.
In terms of nationality, Vietnamese formed the largest group of foreign brides, totaling 42,713 at the end of last year, followed by Indonesians at 10,662.
Other countries who have at least 1,000 women married to Taiwanese men were Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Malaysia.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as