President Tsai’s recent speeches on the New Southbound Policy overlooked systematic discrimination problems faced by migrant workers in Taiwan.
The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/11
By: Rosemary Chen
The more President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) bangs the drum about the New Southbound
Photo Credit: Reuters/達志影像
Policy, the more glaring Taiwan’s failure to address problems of migrant workers on its own shores becomes.
Tsai today reaffirmed the New Southbound Policy is Taiwan’s “Asia Pacific strategy” under which the country will increase the scope and depth of its activities with South Asia and Southeast Asia. The president was speaking at the “Yushan Forum: Asian Dialogue for Innovation and Progress” (玉山論壇：亞洲進步與創新對話), an event hosted by Prospect Foundation for Taiwan that aims to develop economic and cultural partnerships with Southeast Asian countries.
Tsai said the government will take the following five steps to achieve its goal: cultivate talent by increasing the number of international students from Southeast Asia studying in Taiwan to 5,000 each year; help Southeast Asian countries develop industries catering to “domestic needs” such as the petrochemical industry, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and healthcare; create a US$3.5 billion official development assistance (ODA) fund for Southeast Asian countries; encourage experience sharing between small businesses and NGOs; and collaborate with countries with similar visions. [FULL STORY]
