Yunlin County prosecutors this week completed their probe into the adoption of 17 Vietnamese children by families in central Taiwan, saying the suspects were not engaged in human trafficking and charging them only with document forgery.
“We found that all of the 17 Vietnamese children were relatives of the Vietnamese women who had acquired [Taiwanese] citizenship by marriage,” Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutor Huang Yi-hua (黃怡華) said on Wednesday.
These are not cases of child smuggling or international human trafficking, Huang added.
“Evidence indicated that the US$3,000 to US$7,000 paid by each of the Vietnamese families was for obtaining forged birth certificates and processing the documents in Vietnam, and was not payment related to human trafficking activities,” she said.
“Also, it cannot be established that the Vietnamese children who came to Taiwan were brought here solely for the purpose of working, or that they were paid wages that were not commensurate with the nature of their work,” she said.
Twenty-two suspects were charged with document forgery, 14 of whom are former Vietnamese citizens who came to Taiwan through marriage.
Debate over illegal adoption was sparked by start of the investigation started last year, when foreign affairs officials reported receipt of counterfeit documents from a couple applying for a Taiwanese passport and birth certificate for a child who was born in Vietnam.
After investigators raided the residences of the adoptive families, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) released a statement claiming to have cracked an international human trafficking ring, which was reported by most media outlets.
Further investigation revealed that the families adopted children from Vietnam aged between five and 13 who were helping out on their farms and tea plantations.
Some of the children were found to be attending local schools.
At the time, immigrant advocacy group Taiwan International Family Association accused the agency of jumping to conclusions by announcing it was a child smuggling ring involving forced child labor.
The group said it was adoption by families who were certain the kids would be taken care of.
The prosecutors’ conclusion concurred with the statements by the group, saying: “The purpose [of the adoptions] was for the Vietnamese children to live in better economic conditions, which drove the families to produce forged birth certificates to enable adoption by relatives [in Taiwan].”
The indictment for document forgery and dropping of charges for human trafficking was seen as a rebuke of the NIA officials’ handling of the matter.
“We urge the NIA and foreign affairs officials to be more prudent in their scrutiny of documents when handling applications by foreign nationals entering our country,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
Some of the children involved in the illegal adoption scheme have since obtained citizenship, but prosecutors said that they might be repatriated back to Vietnam, depending on the outcome of the trial.
They will be permitted to live with their adopted families for the time being, the prosecutors said.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS