Taiwan: Multiple protests call for improved labour conditions ahead of elections

The state of civic space in Taiwan is still rated as ‘open’ by the CIVICUS Monitor which published its latest global report in December 2023. This means the state has created an enabling environment for people to enjoy their civic freedoms. Civil society is able to operate and undertake their work without harassment or undue interference. People are free to hold protests in public places and form associations. There is also a relatively free media and journalists are able to do their work without any major restrictions.

At the same time, there are concerns about defamation provisions in the Criminal Code that could be used to silence freedom of expression. While most workers enjoy freedom of association, the government strictly regulates the right to strike. The Assembly and Parade Act continues to forbid organisations and groups from holding any activities close to specified areas, such as the Executive Yuan, courts at all levels and foreign embassies.

Taiwan was rated 12th out of 165 countries and territories assessed in the latest Human Freedom Index report jointly released on 19th December by the Cato Institute and Fraser Institute. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents the most freedom, Taiwan scored 8.56, which is well above the global average of 6.75 and puts the country first in Asia.

Taiwanese voters will head to the polls to choose their next president, vice president and legislative representatives on 13th January. The frontrunner is Lai Ching-te from the incumbent Democratic Progressive party (DPP). Lai is vice-president to Tsai Ing-wen, who is stepping down because of term limits. The main opposition candidate is Hou You-yi from the more conservative Kuomintang (KMT). A third candidate in the race is Ko Wen-je of the newly formed Taiwan People’s party (TPP). Ko is a popular former Taipei mayor.

China has ramped up its efforts to interfere in the elections, launching high-level coordinated disinformation campaigns on social media. According to research firm Graphika, an influence operation spanning Facebook, TikTok and YouTube has been targeting the election and it identified a network of more than 800 fake accounts and 13 pages on Facebook that reposted Chinese-language TikTok and YouTube videos about Taiwanese politics. They promoted the Kuomintang that's seen as friendly to China, and slammed its opponents, including the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favours Taiwan's independence.

In recent months, protests have been held by migrant workers and their allies against the labour broker system while media workers have called for better labour conditions. Workers also held a 22-day march across Taiwan for better wages and protections. Environmental groups protested to end the use of coal at a power plant in Taichung. There were reports that Taiwan has barred Chinese reporters on short term permits from writing about polls while the number of international journalists in the country has increased. A Chinese dissident sought asylum to Canada via Taiwan.

Peaceful Assembly

Migrant workers and activists hold protests against exploitative labour broker system

In October 2023, dozens of migrant workers in Halloween costumes took part in a demonstration held by the Migrants Empowerment Network (MENT) in Taiwan around Taipei Main Station to call for an end to the labour broker system. MENT is composed of eight migrant worker organisations from all over Taiwan. "No treat, only trick" was the main slogan chanted by migrant workers and members of labour groups at the demonstration, during which brokers were presented as blood-sucking figures.

On 10th December 2023, MENT organised another protest where hundreds took to the streets of Taipei, including migrant workers and Taiwanese labour and human rights activists, to demand an end to the exploitation of migrant workers by brokers charging exorbitant fees and engaging in other predatory practices.

Protesters marched from the Ministry of Labour's (MOL) Direct Hiring Service Center in Ximending to its main office near Xingtian Temple Station to demand the abolition of the broker system and a streamlining of direct hiring.

The broker system was legalised in 1992 to introduce overseas workers to employment opportunities in Taiwan and then manage the workers and help them process any necessary documents while in Taiwan.

According to the Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA), one of the march's organisers, migrant workers have to pay between NT$80,000 (USD 2,508) and NT$200,000 (USD 6,455) to an employment broker in their home country before coming to Taiwan.

Once in Taiwan, migrant workers, who make an average of NT$26,000 (USD 839) to NT$32,000 (USD 1,032) a month depending on their occupation, must pay "service fees" of up to NT$60,000 (USD 1,935) over the course of a three-year contract - even if no actual services are provided, TIWA added. Brokers have also abused the system by illegally charging them fees of NT$20,000-$90,000 (USD 645-2,902) to change jobs once their first three-year contracts run out.

Medical workers protest to call for improved labour conditions

Medical workers demonstrated on 22nd October 2023 to call for improvements in their labour conditions. The demonstration, which took place in front of the Legislative Yuan, drew several hundred.

According to New Bloom Magazine, 21 medical unions participated in the protest, under the umbrella of the Taiwan Federation of Medical Unions (TFMU). The demonstration was termed a “Workers’ Rights Ghost Parade and included some dressed in Halloween costumes with slogans such as “Labour shortage makes us overworked ghosts,” “Working two or three types of shifts in a week turns us into zombies” and “Forced to do illegal practices makes us feel like phantoms”. Participants ranged from a number of professions, including doctors and nurses, therapists, radiologists, and others.

Medical workers were seeking to call attention to how they are systematically overworked. TFMU head Chao Lin-yu said the rally’s four demands for the government are to “replenish healthcare manpower,” “improve healthcare workers’ safety at work,” “allocate more of the National Health Insurance (NHI) budget to save the NHI system,” and to “let healthcare professionals receive the respect they deserve.” Nurse representative Lo Yun-sheng said many nurses have left the workforce because they were overworked, as hospitals asked them to work 12 hours a day or to work two or three types of shifts in a week. Nurses want a three-shift system to become law within two years to prevent nurses from being overworked, she said.

Labour groups rally in Taipei to demand better working conditions

Around 2,000 people took part in a rally in Taipei on 23rd December to mark the conclusion of the 22-day cross-country "Labor Struggle" march which started in Kaohsiung on 2nd December. The protest, organised by the group "2024 Workers Against the President," took place outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and saw participants demand increased wages as well as improved hours and labour protections.

The protest's organisers called for a raising of Taiwan's minimum wage from NT$26,400 (USD 850) to NT$30,000 (USD 967) per month, as well as raised overtime pay and basic pensions. In addition, the demonstrators called on the government to add seven more national holidays per year to address overwork concerns and to loosen restrictions on union organising.

Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions Chairman Chu Mei-hsueh said the number of workers needed to form a union in Taiwan should be lowered from 30, noting that the minimum in China, South Korea and Japan was only 10.

Environmental groups protest to end use of coal at power plant

Multiple environmental groups rallied in Taichung on 24th December 2023, calling on the Taichung Power Plant to stop using coal by the end of 2026, as it is a fossil fuel that contributes significantly to poor air quality.

The fine particulate matter emitted from burning coal is much more hazardous than from other energy sources, according to Air Clean Taiwan (ACT), the group that led the protest in front of the Taichung City Council. The worst victims of the Taichung power plant emissions have been the residents of Jhushan and Puli townships in Nantou County.

ACT, which was joined by other organisations such as the Changhua Environmental Protection Union and the Nantou County Environmental Protection Association, also called for more aggressive central government action to discontinue the use of coal.

Expression

Taiwan bars Chinese reporters on short term permits from writing about polls

According to a news report on 4th January 2023, Taiwan has barred reporters from mainland China from writing about upcoming highly-followed presidential elections.

Hong Kong-based daily South China Morning Post said one of its journalists holding a Chinese passport had to cancel his Taiwan trip after it came to the fore that reporters from mainland China face “especially strict barriers on reporting on the presidential and legislative elections.”

Quoting an unnamed Taiwanese immigration official, the report said: “(Chinese) mainland journalists on short-term permits ‘can only observe’ but are not allowed to write anything about the elections, even if they clear the application process to visit the island.”

It is the first time such a measure has been imposed by Taiwan. However, Chinese journalists based in Taiwan on a longer-term basis are “allowed to cover the election.” There are some 15 Chinese journalists representing eight mainland media houses in Taiwan on six-month stay permits, who "are free to go anywhere" on the island.

Increase in international journalists based in Taiwan

Taiwan has seen a “steady increase of international media and journalists” since 2016, the island’s foreign ministry has said, with a 22 per cent increase in foreign reporters in 2023 attributed to Taiwan’s press freedom and its position as an Indo-Pacific hub.

It had 174 foreign reporters and 82 international media outlets by the end of November 2023, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jeff Liu, a spokesperson for the ministry, said that the latest figures showed a steady growth from 2022, when 142 reporters from 79 international news outlets were recorded.

Liu said that Taiwan’s press freedom and its “open and free” society were the primary reasons behind the inflow of international reporters. He said Taiwan ranked 35th out of 180 jurisdictions in the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom ranking, released in May 2023. It was the highest ranking for the island since 2008, and it stood at the forefront among Asian jurisdictions, he said.

Association

Activist from China seeks asylum from Taiwan airport

A Chinese dissident who was stuck inside a Taiwanese airport transit area after he refused to fly on to China arrived in Canada in October 2023 after being granted asylum.

Chen Siming arrived in Taipei on 22nd September 2023, after travelling through Thailand and Laos. When he landed at Taipei’s international airport he refused to reboard, requesting assistance to resettle in a third country.

He spent almost two weeks living in the transit area and immigration office of the airport, where he said he was looked after by authorities.

Chen is a prominent activist in China who regularly commemorated the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4th June 1989 and has been repeatedly detained around the anniversary. He fled China for Laos in late July 2023.

Taiwan does not have a formal refugee pathway, and tensions between Taipei and Beijing – which has vowed to annex Taiwan – make the topic of Chinese asylum seekers a politically sensitive and complicated issue.

A Chinese dissident who was stuck inside a Taiwanese airport transit area after he refused to fly on to China arrived in Canada in October 2023 after being granted asylum.

Chen Siming arrived in Taipei on 22nd September 2023, after travelling through Thailand and Laos. When he landed at Taipei’s international airport he refused to reboard, requesting assistance to resettle in a third country.

He spent almost two weeks living in the transit area and immigration office of the airport, where he said he was looked after by authorities.

Chen is a prominent activist in China who regularly commemorated the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4th June 1989 and has been repeatedly detained around the anniversary. He fled China for Laos in late July 2023.

Taiwan does not have a formal refugee pathway, and tensions between Taipei and Beijing – which has vowed to annex Taiwan – make the topic of Chinese asylum seekers a politically sensitive and complicated issue.