Anti-trafficking efforts
Human trafficking has become an increasingly serious international issue. UN statistics from last year indicate that at least 100,000 people were tricked into going to Southeast Asia and forced to participate in phone scams or other crimes. Many are victims of human trafficking. Taiwan has cooperated with other countries, cracking down on trafficking and achieving results from prevention efforts. However, when it comes to transnational crime, Taiwan faces challenges.
The transnational nature of human trafficking makes it difficult for any country to handle on its own. International cooperation is indispensable. At this year’s International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking, Deputy Minister of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said that exchanges with officials, academics and non-governmental organizations from other countries are crucial for Taiwan in countering human trafficking. Taiwan has hosted international human trafficking prevention workshops for 16 consecutive years, inviting experts and academics from all over the globe to share their experiences and jointly explore prevention strategies.
Attending this year’s workshop were officials, academics and experts from the US, Canada, Australia, and 14 other countries, along with almost 300 representatives from Taiwan. Attendees participated in extensive discussions to address several issues, including victims of human trafficking who are forced to commit crimes. These workshops help Taiwan learn from other countries and improve its own prevention capabilities.
To combat human trafficking, Taiwan is improving its laws and regulations. Under an amendment to the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法) implemented on Jan. 1, using others to commit criminal acts is now within the scope of criminal punishment. The amendment also authorizes judges to take the circumstances of a crime into consideration and provide lighter punishments or exemptions for those who are perpetrators as a result of being trafficked.
Taiwan is also cooperating with other countries, establishing intelligence networks and mechanisms of law enforcement cooperation, working together to crack down on human trafficking crimes. Taiwan has worked with Southeast Asian countries to successfully investigate and uncover cases of human trafficking, containing its spread.
Although Taiwan has made significant progress, it still faces challenges. Multinational human trafficking organizations are tight-knit, their division of labor careful and meticulous, and their methods extremely covert and evolving constantly. This makes it difficult to investigate and gather evidence.
Taiwan must establish a more effective mechanism of international cooperation and continue to strengthen prevention, improve related laws and regulations, promote education to improve public vigilance, and build a sturdy line of defense against human trafficking.
Meng Chou-kung
Taipei
Caring for elderly people
The question about whether to send elderly family members to residential care homes is an important one. There are often stories in the media about caregivers and elderly people feeling conflicted about the idea of resorting to care homes.
I have long been resolved to the fact that I would eventually have to receive long-term care. I am at peace with aging, even though I share some of the disquiet that others feel, including elderly people and those responsible for caring for them.
I know by watching elderly members of my own family being taken care of that the caregiver has a difficult job. The older generation tends to feel upset when their children send them to a care home, as this is thought to be unfilial.
The younger generation do not take such decisions lightly, and only do so because they do not have the means to take care of their parents on their own. Their decision is often frowned upon by relatives and friends, and they feel guilty as a result.
I have financially and mentally prepared myself for losing the ability to take care of myself. I bought insurance that would pay for such an eventuality. I traveled the world, but I have never gone beyond my means. I told my sons to find me a nice care home if I lose the ability to take care of myself or develop dementia.
I believe communication and reaching an understanding on this issue would minimize the discomfort shared by parents and children.
Hung Chin-fong
Taipei
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS