I find it interesting that a report on human rights in Taiwan by the United States government fails to take into account human rights abuses of American citizens in Taiwan.
I don’t know what specificcally you are addressing. Do you mean that the number of Americans in Taiwan is statistically insignificant for the purposes of the study? The last four paragraphs of the report are devoted to foreigners in Taiwan and of the entire report seems to be the only information directly relevent to people on forumosa:
[quote]The CLA has adopted a series of measures to restrict the number of foreign workers in major public construction projects, key manufacturing investment projects, and the manufacturing sector, thus reducing the number of foreign workers by 15,000 workers per year over the past several years. The number of legal foreign workers decreased from 327,000 in 2000 to approximately 300,000 at the end of 2003. By May, however, the number of foreign workers increased to 304,000 largely due to Taiwan’s economic recovery and the lifting of a ban from allowing foreign workers to work on major public construction projects. Of the 304,000 foreign workers 102,000 are from Thailand, 86,000 from the Philippines, 70,000 from Vietnam, and 45,000 from Indonesia.
The law stipulates that foreign workers who are employed legally receive the same protection as local workers. However, the CLA in 1998, allowed family maids, including foreign family maids, to be exempted from the LSL, denying them the right to safeguards provided to citizens. Moreover, authorities stated that in many cases, illegal foreign workers, many from Thailand and the Philippines, received board and lodging from their employers but no medical coverage, accident insurance, or other benefits enjoyed by citizens. In response to deteriorating economic conditions, the Government adopted a proposal by the Economic Development Advisory Conference allowing room and board expenses for foreign workers to be treated as in-kind payments and deducted from foreign workers’ pay. The CLA set the ceiling of these deductions at $117 (NT$4,000) per month.
Illegal foreign workers also were vulnerable to employer exploitation in the form of confiscation of passports (making it difficult to change employers), imposition of involuntary deductions from wages, and extension of working hours without overtime pay. There also were reports that foreign workers often paid high agency fees to obtain jobs. In addition, observers reported that conditions in many small- and medium-sized factories that employed illegal foreign labor were dangerous, due to old and poorly maintained equipment. Observers alleged that legal foreign workers were sometimes similarly exploited. The CLA urged employers not to mistreat foreign workers, and employers were subject to the same penalties for mistreating foreign workers as for mistreating citizen workers. In an effort to reduce broker fees, the CLA revoked permits of agencies charging excessive fees, and local governments inspected agency hiring practices. The CLA also negotiated direct hire agreements with labor-sending countries, and encouraged NGOs to establish nonprofit employment service organizations to assist foreign laborers in locating employment.
In November 2002, the CLA rescinded regulations requiring the deportation of foreign laborers who became pregnant and further amended regulations to allow them to switch to jobs with lighter workloads. The CLA has established 24 offices around the island to provide counseling and other services to foreign workers, and it provided financial assistance to city and county governments to conduct inspections of places where foreign workers were employed. It also attempted to reduce the number of illegal foreign workers. [/quote]
Perhaps applicable to ABCs or other “overseas Chinese”:
Regarding foreign prostitutes:[quote]In 2002, police rescued 598 child prostitutes, including 568 citizens, 27 PRC nationals, and three other foreign nationals, of whom 54 were male and 544 female.[/quote]
I hope that the length of the quote is okay, but the report is quite long, so I copied all information relevant to rights of foreigners.
Regarding the report for China, it appears that in no area of civil rights does China have what we could say is a good area for civil rights except in the area of homosexuality and stigmatization of HIV positive people. In most areas, the law set by the Constitution is quite positive for the way it establishes civil rights, but in actuality the practice of upholding civil rights is in no way done right or without severe failure to uphold the Constitution. It’s amazing how badly a nation can fail a report, and even more amazing is that, in this so called modern age, such a nation can be allowed to continue its path of widespread subjugation, discrimination, violation, torture and suffocation of expression. Perhaps the politicians around the world can only ask the rhetorical question, “What can we do?”
:fume:
I am sorry but do not see any mention of human rights abuses of American citizens anywhere in the US State Dept. human rights report for Taiwan. I personally have taken great care to ensure that the US state department was made aware of any cases of suspected human rights abuses of American citizens in Taiwan.There were and are several.
Obviously the US State Department has other priorities than the welfare of American citizens in Taiwan.
I am sorry but do not see any mention of human rights abuses of American citizens anywhere in the US State Dept. human rights report for Taiwan. I personally have taken great care to ensure that the US state department was made aware of any cases of suspected human rights abuses of American citizens in Taiwan.There were and are several.
Obviously the US State Department has other priorities than the welfare of American citizens in Taiwan.[/quote]
Maybe thats because there are no legitimate claims of ‘human rights abuse’ against citizens of the United States of America occuring in Taiwan.
If Taiwanese in America were treated in the same manner as Americans are treated in Taiwan you would see several human rights advocacy group demanding an explanation.
If Taiwanese in America were treated in the same manner as Americans are treated in Taiwan you would see several human rights advocacy group demanding an explanation.[/quote]
Eric -
It just is not happening.
Please see my previous post. It is very clear.
I am not meaning to lessen your intent, but there simply are no substantive incidents to justufy your claims.
Some pissed off musicians just don’t qualify as “victims of oppression.”
[quote]The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people
on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the United States.[/quote]
TITLE 22–FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 48--TAIWAN RELATIONS
Sec. 3301. Congressional findings and declaration of policy
frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin … +22USC3301
[quote]Sec. 3314. Definitions
For purposes of this chapter--
(1) the term ``laws of the United States'' includes any statute,
rule, regulation, ordinance, order, or judicial rule of decision of
the United States or any political subdivision thereof; and
(2) the term ``Taiwan'' includes, as the context may require,
the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores, the people on those
islands, corporations and other entities and associations created or
organized under the laws applied on those islands, and the governing
authorities on Taiwan recognized by the United States as the
Republic of China prior to January 1, 1979, and any successor
governing authorities (including political subdivisions, agencies,
and instrumentalities thereof).
I believe that Mr. Lier is suggesting/asserting that the term people on Taiwan must be interpreted to include not only those holding the passports of the [non-sovereign] Republic of China, but indeed all other nationalities of persons resident in Taiwan.
I would maintain that such a suggestion/assertion is entirely valid.
Moreover, the Taiwan government clearly engages in many activities which do not serve to preserve or enhance the human rights of the “foreign community” here in Taiwan.
U.S. law clearly states that foreign residents in the United States are afforded equal protection under the law, including due process, etc. Foreigners in Taiwan are not. The Taiwanese make a big stink about “reciprocity” when it comes to things like the cost of visas for Taiwanese who travel to America, yet they conveniently forget to uphold “reciprocity” when it doesn’t fit in with their xenophobic attitude towards foreigners. Foreigners (except for the Southeast Asian laborers) are not an “oppressed” group in Taiwan, but we certainly do not receive the same access to the legal system, legal protection, and certain services that Taiwanese nationals in other Western countries receive.
LBTW -
Thanks for clarifying your point.
I do have a question, In your opinion, Do “foreigners” have the same access to the legal system, legal protection, and certain services that Taiwanese nationals do here on the island?
And since I am American, lets just refer to “foreigners” who happen to be American.
Anyone else with specific knowledge in relation to this query please feel free to chime in.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]LBTW -
Thanks for clarifying your point.
I do have a question, In your opinion, Do “foreigners” have the same access to the legal system, legal protection, and certain services that Taiwanese nationals do here on the island?
And since I am American, lets just refer to “foreigners” who happen to be American.[/quote]
No. Just to cite one example, we can be deported without access to due process. If the police “believe” that you are violating the law, they can and will take you directly to the airport and send you home. You are not given the opportunity to defend yourself in the courts (except from overseas which would be awfully difficult to do). This, I believe, is an example of a human rights violation. The other things I have problems with (like credit cards, accessing money overseas, telephones, etc.) have nothing to do with human rights, but fall under the concept of “reciprocity” and fair treatment considering that Taiwanese nationals in most Western countries do not face the obstacles in getting these services that we do here.
[quote=“Jive Turkey”][quote=“Eric W. Lier”]:fume:
I am sorry but do not see any mention of human rights abuses of American citizens anywhere in the US State Dept. human rights report for Taiwan. I personally have taken great care to ensure that the US state department was made aware of any cases of suspected human rights abuses of American citizens in Taiwan.There were and are several.
Obviously the US State Department has other priorities than the welfare of American citizens in Taiwan.[/quote]
No. Obviously, as is made clear by the title, the report is about human rights. It is not about the rights of US citizens who happen to reside in the country covered. It seems you are suggesting that US citizens are somehow more human than others.[/quote]
[quote=“LittleBuddhaTW”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]LBTW -
Thanks for clarifying your point.
I do have a question, In your opinion, Do “foreigners” have the same access to the legal system, legal protection, and certain services that Taiwanese nationals do here on the island?
And since I am American, lets just refer to “foreigners” who happen to be American.[/quote]
No. Just to cite one example, we can be deported without access to due process. If the police “believe” that you are violating the law, they can and will take you directly to the airport and send you home. You are not given the opportunity to defend yourself in the courts (except from overseas which would be awfully difficult to do). This, I believe, is an example of a human rights violation.[/quote]
Do we have any actual, verifiable examples of this? ALL the cases I have heard of, people have been given hearing and reviews before being deported. (Didn’t Chocolate have a hearing?..Others have been given notice that they were being deported and had time to appeal). Of course just because they were still deported isn’t a human rights violation.
I think you will find that the same problems exist – to some extent – for foreigners residing in the U.S. (don’t know about other countries). Foreigners must have cosigners (or hefty deposits) for credit cards, telephones, etc. Not sure what you mean about accessing money overseas, I have never had any problems. But then again as you said, reciprocity is not a human rights issue.
Maybe this is because are no human rights abuses in Taiwan? 