KMT presidential candidate says he won't accept migrant workers who 'cause trouble' after 'chickens' controversy

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/04
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Itinerant Kaohsiung Mayor and full-time Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu is sure to stir more controversy after he said he will not accept migrants who "cause trouble" as he tried to clarify his controversial comment referring to migrant laborers as "chickens."

During a livestream Facebook video discussion about policies on Aug. 29, Han touched on the topic of Taiwan's brain drain. In the video, Han described the flight of Taiwanese talent and the arrival of migrant workers as "phoenixes flying away and a bunch of chickens coming in!" (鳳凰都飛走了，進來一大堆雞！).

As Taiwan's migrant worker community is still wincing from Han's comparison to them with "chickens" last week. Han today (Sept. 4) took to Facebook to say that he was grateful and respectful of Taiwan's new immigrants, but he said he could not accept those who come to Taiwan to "cause trouble."

Han said that last week he was referring to Taiwan's talent being lured away by offers of salaries triple or quadruple Taiwan levels in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China. Han conceded that when he said, "phoenixes flying away and a bunch of chickens coming in," it sparked a huge uproar and immense confusion.    [FULL  STORY]