Human rights in Taiwan

The human rights during the Japanese rule era experienced dramatic changes with three major phases. After the 1895 defeat of the Republic of Formosa, the Empire of Japan annexed Taiwan. The early Japanese administration appointed military governors. The colonial policies often limited the human rights of the Taiwanese people. After the Tapani incident in 1915 and Japan's involvement in World War I, the colonial governance was gradually liberalized. Taiwan became an extension of the Japanese Home Islands and the Taiwanese people were educated under a policy of assimilation.

The last phase of Japanese rule began with the eruption of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. As the Japanese became active in international military affairs, its militarism rose. Its goal now was to fully Japanize Taiwan. In the meantime, laws were made to grant Taiwanese membership in the Japanese Diet, which theoretically would qualify a Taiwanese to become the prime minister of Japan eventually.

Some of the autocracy in early Nationalist China also reflects a continuation of the political attitudes of Taiwan in the early decades after its founding in 1912. Many Chinese leaders, following the thought of Sun Yat-sen, held it necessary to maintain strong centralized control, including a militarized regime, during the early part of the regime's history, feeling that the populace was "not ready" for full democracy. Political repression was heavy during the early Kuomintang-Taiwan period in the mainland under Chiang Kai-shek, who would retreat to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War.

Additionally, the history of Taiwan after 1945, in terms of political situation and human rights, displays multiple similarities with that of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Between the end of World War II and the 1990s, a similar degree of autocratic dictatorship and centralization existed, followed by some eventual democratization by two states. Even so, corruption remains a major issue in both countries.

The Asian values debate, which holds that the political and cultural traditions of Asia justify a certain degree of autocratic rule to enable the rapid economic development of society puts Taiwanese human rights in interesting perspective. These ideas were prevalent among many important leaders in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea, and elsewhere with seemingly democratic constitutions coupled with authoritarian one-party rule, in the 1990s. Moreover, some in mainland China, including Peking University scholar Pan Wei Bo, feel the most effective and appropriate political structure for the Chinese people is a relatively centralized state under rule of law, with some degree of popular consultation. There are also debates as to the government's right to police social behaviours. For instance, a Taiwanese municipal councillor suggested that Taiwan's low fertility rate could be alleviated by making employers penalise unmarried and childless workers; this suggestion was widely rebuked for its infringement of the rights of the individual.[8]

Capital punishment exists in Taiwan and is still widely enforced. National police and security agencies are, however, under effective civilian control ever since the end of martial law, although isolated reports of human rights abuse still surface occasionally. Although the government has nominally generally respected the human rights of citizens; however, there are still widespread problems in some areas. Instances of police abuse of persons in police custody, official corruption, violence and discrimination against women, child prostitution and abuse, and trafficking of women and children has occurred.[4][5][6][7]

In recent years, Taiwan's laws have focused on combating sexual discrimination, granting greater accommodation to some conscientious objectors (Republic of China has obligatory national service), and upholding cultural and linguistic pluralism.[9] In 2001, the Ministry of Justice issued a draft version of the Basic Law On The Guarantees of Human Rights that was however not officially passed into law.[9]

For significant periods of Taiwan's history, both before and after 1949, when the Republic of China lost control of mainland China while only maintaining control of Taiwan, linguistic and cultural rights for minorities or non-power holding groups were often harshly repressed. For example, local dialects such as Taiwanese Minnan or Austronesian languages of the indigenous Taiwanese (or any other non-Mandarin spoken variants spoken by the Taiwanese) were censored and restricted in the state mass media to promote the use of Mandarin as the common and only language on the island. This policy is similar to what was practiced in Francoist Spain with the Spanish language.[10]

There are up to a million guest workers in Taiwan, with most coming from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Historically, workers from mainland China and South Korea were also used. A murky system of recruitment and brokerage agencies with little to no oversight by the government leaves foreign workers vulnerable to debt bondage.[4]

Most foreign workers live in dorms either inside the factories they work at or on the grounds of these factories. These dorms have faced significant criticism for sub-standard conditions and overcrowding. Up to 30 workers may share a single room, though numbers of four to eight per room are more common. Undocumented workers often have particularly bad living conditions. Domestic workers are required by law to live with their employing family and can not live outside their home. Many carers for the elderly and disabled sleep in the same room as the person they are caring for and lack their own space entirely. Employers in both industrial and domestic setting are allowed to deduct the cost of housing, food, etc from their employee’s wages.[5]

In March 2020, a fire at a factory in Taichung killed three Vietnamese workers living in the onsite dormitory. The incident was criticized as the firefighters response time was slow, and its tragedy had also renewed calls from labor rights activists for the abolishment of onsite dorms for foreign workers.[12]

Taiwan received a "yellow card" from the European Commission in 2015 for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, meaning further violations could have led to the European Union banning Taiwanese seafood imports.[6]

In 2017, eight foreign crew members were murdered by their officers aboard the Taiwan-flagged fishing vessel Wen Peng approximately 900 nautical miles off the south coast of Sri Lanka. Two were killed on the vessel and six were forced overboard, their bodies were never recovered. The officers were also never convicted for the murders.[4]

In 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) released its report in regards to "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor", and had included Taiwan for the first time for its issues related to widespread abuse and forced labor in the fishing industry.[6][7]

Unlike any other industry in Taiwan, the distant waters fishing fleet is not within the jurisdiction of the labor ministry but regulated by the Fisheries Agency which also has a mandate to support the industry. This responsibility for championing both the industry and protecting labor has been characterized as a conflict of interest by human rights groups such as Greenpeace. In 2017, the government introduced the "Act for Distant Water Fisheries", which was intended to increase government control and oversight over Taiwan’s approximately 2,000 distant water fishing vessels. In particular the act sought to safeguard the rights of foreign workers aboard the vessels. However, the act was not passed due to lobbying by the fishing industry.[4]

Sex trafficking in Taiwan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of China. Taiwan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons. Migrant workers in Taiwan are also at times coerced into sexual advances and prostitution.[17][18]