Literature, Disability, and Foreign Labor: Taiwan Uniquely

Taiwan Passed New Legislation to Attract More Foreign Talents

• The highly anticipated law to attract more foreign talent, The Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professional Talent, passed on Tuesday.
• The new law introduces an Employment Gold Card that includes the work permit, residence visa, alien residency permit and re-entry permit, which makes it easier for foreign nationals to change jobs. Additionally, the law extends the permissible employment period from three years to five years, and abolishes the requirement of staying in Taiwan for at least 183 days.
• DPP legislator Karen Yu shared on her Facebook page that the passage of the legislation shows that Taiwan has reached a consensus on this important issue, and is officially welcoming foreign nationals.

Taiwan Criticized for Its Disability Rights Actions

• Taiwan invited five international experts to review the government’s first report on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) this past week, and among all the 70 suggestions made, the team considers Taiwan’s actions for disability rights still has room for improvement.
• The experts urged the government to establish an independent monitoring institution for disability rights, as well as amend relevant laws.
• According to media reports, the experts think Taiwan has weak judicial support for people with disabilities, since there is no obvious system to protect them against discrimination. Lin Wan-yi, a policy advisor for the Executive Yuan, promised to brief Premier Lai in two weeks and make relevant suggestions about policy amendment afterwards.

Prominent Writer Cheng Ching-Wen Passed Away

• Taiwan’s prominent writer Cheng Ching-wen (鄭清文, or Tenn Tshing-bun), winner of the 9th National Award of Art in 2005, passed away on November 4th at the age of 85. Since publishing his first novel in 1985, Cheng has produced numerous literary works of different genres, and he is a writer with strong social awareness as well as a focus on local cultures in Taiwan.
• His works have won numerous awards, including the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize in 1999. Throughout his literary career, he upheld the spirit of “My literary works belongs to Taiwan, and they are only a small part of Taiwan’s immense literary river.”

(Feature photo from Pixabay)