The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) could reconsider its decision to temporarily suspend the hiring of new Filipino workers, depending on the attitude of a visiting Philippine envoy toward the diplomatic dispute that triggered the move, the council minister said yesterday, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said yesterday.
Wang said any review of the measure to more tightly screen Filipino workers applying to work in Taiwan would consider many factors, including the message and goodwill brought by envoy Manuel Roxas, who is expected to arrive in Taipei today.
Roxas is visiting Taiwan to try to ease tensions between Taipei and Manila that were sparked when the Philippines deported 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China on Feb. 2, an act condemned by Taiwan as an infringement of its sovereignty and a violation of legal practice.
The council responded on Feb. 8 by lengthening the application process for Filipinos wanting to work in Taiwan to four months, from the previous seven to 12 days, effectively freezing the hiring of Filipinos by local companies.
The Philippines’ respect for Taiwan as a country and ongoing communications between Taipei and Manila on crime will also be factors in the review, Wang said.
Asked if it was fair to sanction Manila by restricting opportunities for migrant workers, Wang said there was no other alternative, including economic sanctions, that would not have affected the interests of Filipino workers.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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