Premier Sean Chen yesterday said that the possibility of an influx of foreign workers crowding out Aborigines was an issue that “demanded attention.”
Fielding questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jeng Tian-tsair (鄭天財), an Amis Aborigine, during a question-and-answer session in the legislature, Chen said the Cabinet would discuss how it can address the problem properly.
Jeng raised concern over the Cabinet’s plan to relax restrictions on the recruitment of foreign workers to attract new investors and encourage China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to relocate their businesses to the country.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The government has estimated that the measures, which will take effect at the end of this year, for new investors who apply for investments in the next two years, would attract NT$200 billion (US$6.83billion) in investments, bringing in 80,000 foreign workers and creating 120,000 job opportunities for Taiwanese.
Jeng said that the policy would negatively affect Aboriginal employment.
“Between 2000 and the end of last year, there was an increase of 7,000 in the number of migrant workers. In the first eight months of the year, Taiwan recruited 12,000 extra workers from foreign countries. Now we will bring in an additional 80,000 foreign workers?” Jeng asked.
The incentives for investors would hit hard and fast on Aborigines, whose unemployment rate is already high, because about 30 percent of the Aborigines who are employed work either in the manufacturing or construction sectors, Jeng said.
Chen agreed with Jeng’s suggestion that companies may be required to provide employment opportunities for Aborigines to qualify for the investment incentives.
Separately, Independent Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) of the Atayal, KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) of the Sediq, and KMT Legislator Chien Tung-ming (簡東明) of the Paiwan urged Chen to speed up the drafting of an autonomy bill for Aborigines.
Chen said he has gone over the drafted bill initiated by the Council of Indigenous Peoples article by article, while talks between the council and local governments have been ongoing to review the feasibility of tribal self-governance projects as stipulated in the bill to make sure that the ideals of Aboriginal self-government can be realized.
“No one [in the Cabinet] is opposed to the idea of Aboriginal self-governance. We have been looking at how to implement the ideal idea,” Chen 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