The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has approved a proposal to set up a committee that will address the needs of the nation’s growing number of immigrant spouses.
The committee is to be composed of 11 to 19 members, half of whom would be new immigrants, the party said on Wednesday last week.
Committee members — which may include non-DPP members — and the chairperson are to be appointed by the DPP.
The committee chairperson’s tenure will be concomitant with that of the DPP chairperson, the party said.
Taiwan Women’s Link secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬), who is to serve as the committee’s chief executive, said that she hoped the inclusion of new immigrants in the committee would help the DPP better understand the group’s needs.
The committee will act as an intermediary between new immigrant spouses and the government, DPP spokesman Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) said.
Its aim will be to safeguard the rights and well-being of those spouses, Ruan added.
The committee will help the government become more multicultural in its outlook and promote exchanges with different cultures, he said.
Tsai said Taiwan Women’s Link had a program that encouraged second-generation immigrants to visit their parents’ home countries to learn more about their roots.
The committee will hold a series of conferences with city and county governments across the nation to gather more input about the daily challenges that new immigrant spouses and their children face, Tsai said.
“We hope these women will feel that Taiwan is their home and that we are here to support them,” she said.
There are about 500,000 immigrant spouses in the nation, including about 150,000 from Southeast Asia, making them the country’s fifth-largest demographic, Ruan said.
“These women are found throughout the country toiling away for Taiwan,” Ruan said, adding that the DPP has a responsibility to hear their concerns.
“Let us join hands with this community to help Taiwan become the friendliest multicultural society,” he said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we