Reports that 40 exchange students from Eswatini studying in Taiwan were forced to work in a refrigerated factory skinning chickens should be highly concerning. Namely, there have been a number of similar incidents in past years involving students from non-western countries forced to work in factories for low wages by their universities under the auspices of work-study programs or internships...
Under the grand diplomatic strategy of successive administrations in Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, and Tsai-Ing wen have all attempted to craft a Southbound Policy with attributes pertinent to the time-space of its given historical context...
Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen recently made use of a Lunar New Year gala held with prominent Taiwanese business leaders normally based in China to declare that Taiwanese businesses should return their manufacturing and production to Taiwan from China. But how likely is this to actually take place?...
Following a five-day state visit to Swaziland by Tsai Ing-Wen last week, Tsai has called for creation of an “Africa plan” to develop stronger economic and political ties between Taiwan and Africa. One suspects that, much like the Tsai administration’s “New Southbound Policy”, this would also be with the aim of weaning Taiwan off of economic dependency on China. But one generally suspects that this would encounter many of the same challenges that the New Southbound Policy has. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that, like many of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, Swaziland is a country whose government has a questionable human rights record...
Debates have broken out in Taiwan following the death of a “runaway” migrant worker from Vietnam after he was shot to death by Taiwanese police on August 31st. Yet too much of this has focused on whether police actions were justified, rather than considering broader questions of the labor conditions facing migrant workers in Taiwan...