Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) yesterday launched a coalition to advocate rights protection and improved welfare programs for “new residents” of Taiwan, many of whom had acquired citizenship through marriage to a Taiwanese.
Lo said that she had received much help and support from across the political spectrum ahead of the inauguration of the Taiwanese New Immigrants’ Rights Advocacy Alliance of the Legislative Yuan.
Malaysia-born Lo said that the alliance is needed because the number of “new residents” had reached 560,000, or nearly 1 million when combined with their children who were born in Taiwan.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In coming together under the alliance, lawmakers across party lines see the benefits for Taiwan of working to promote international collaboration, commercial trade, and cultural and educational exchanges with the “home nations” of “new residents.”
Most of the “new Taiwanese citizens” come from Southeast Asian nations, especially Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“We want ‘new residents’ who live in Taiwan to have security and happiness for their families, as they are the bridges for Taiwan to link with their home nations, becoming the advance guard for the government’s international diplomacy,” Lo said.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) in his address at the inauguration of the alliance said that issues affecting “new residents” are very important, and that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the Executive Yuan have implemented many beneficial policies “as our government wants ‘new residents’ to become a new force for Taiwan.”
“‘New residents’ coming to live in Taiwan become Taiwanese, and their children are the new Taiwanese children... I always remind officers in the immigration agency to treat them just like they are Taiwanese,” Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
RSS