Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday vowed to promote policies that would benefit the nation’s immigrants, adding that she hoped one day an offspring of immigrants could become the president of Taiwan.
Accompanied by immigrants from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, Tsai presented her immigrant policy agenda at a press conference in Taipei.
“Taiwan has always been a nation of immigrants and a culturally diverse society. Our ancestors came here at different times, and they brought different cultures and ideas that enriched the island and made it more vivid,” Tsai said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Tsai said that last month, she announced her “new southward policy” to establish deeper and more diverse relations with Southeast Asian nations.
In the past, such policies focused on increasing Taiwanese investments in the region, “but in the future, we hope to have more diversity in our exchanges with Southeast Asian nations to encompass culture, education, civil society and international organizations,” she said.
To achieve these objectives, Tsai said she would encourage Taiwanese to learn more about their Southeast Asian neighbors, including their languages.
With more schools teaching Southeast Asian languages, Tsai encouraged immigrants parents to teach their children their mother tongue to gain proficiency in the language even before starting school.
The children of Southeast Asian immigrants could be “pioneers” who lead Taiwan into collaborations with their home countries through enhanced communication, she said.
“The new children of Taiwan are out most important assets,” Tsai said. “Their biggest advantages are the most important assets for Taiwan, as they understand both Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and thus are the best candidates to lead Taiwan into closer cooperation with Southeast Asian nations,” she said.
The DPP chairperson added that she would push for greater recognition of university degrees from the region.
“I know that a lot of new immigrants are facing many challenges and discrimination in their job-hunt and at work,” Tsai said. “One of the biggest issues is that, while they have very good degrees in their own countries, their diplomas are not recognized [in Taiwan].”
Tsai added that she hoped that a child of immigrants could one day be a chairperson of the DPP, and “run for president.”
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS