Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/TAIWAN.TXU

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TITLE:  TAIWAN HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995




The Parade and Assembly (P&A) Law permits peaceful
demonstrations as long as they do not promote communism or advocate Taiwan's separation from mainland China and are
approved in advance by the authorities.  The 1992 amendments to
the law increased penalties for violating orders to disperse.
Demonstration organizers can be prosecuted and fined for harm
to public order, interference with public functionaries
(usually the police), assembly without a permit, or diverging
from officially authorized routes.  Demonstrators are also
liable for "insults or slander" of the authorities.

Critics question the need for all assemblies to apply for
advance permits; in August, groups demonstrating peacefully at
the LY were dispersed under P&A law provisions because they
lacked permits.  In general, the authorities disperse such
gatherings rather than prosecute peaceful P&A Law violators.
Those prosecuted under the P&A Law in 1994 included the group
indicted for participating in the violent August 1
demonstration in Taipei (see Section 2.a.) and another 22
people indicted for participating in the brawling which
prevented the Chinese New Party from holding a September 25
rally in Kaohsiung (see Section 3).  In addition, VOT radio
owner Hsu Jung-Chi was sentenced in October twice for violating
the P&A law.  He received 8 months' imprisonment for inciting a
February demonstration by taxi drivers in front of the Ministry
of Finance to protest the high cost of mandatory insurance and
was sentenced to a further 5 months for inciting another
demonstration in April to protest the razing of the KMT
headquarters building.  Hsu remains free on bail while
appealing these sentences.  Charges against Hsu are also
pending for organizing the August 1 demonstration in Taipei.

A 1992 revision of the Civic Organization Law removed from the
EY the power to dissolve political parties.  This power now
resides in the Constitutional Court, composed of members of the
Judiciary's Council of Grand Justices.  Grounds for dissolution
include objectives or actions which are deemed to jeopardize
the existence of the "Republic of China."  The Constitutional
Court heard no cases in 1994.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the
Taiwan authorities respect this right in practice.  There is no
established or favored religion.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The authorities do not restrict freedom of internal travel
except for a few military and other restricted areas.  Foreign
travel by Taiwan passport holders resident on the island
requires an exit permit.  Nonresident Taiwan passport holders
are usually issued "overseas Chinese" passports and require
entry permits to travel to Taiwan.  According to 1992 revisions
to the National Security Law (NSL), entry permits may be
refused only if there are facts sufficient to create a strong
suspicion that a person is engaged in terrorism or violence.
Reasons for entry and exit refusals must be given, and appeals
may be made to a special board.  No exit or entry permit
refusals were reported during 1994.

In 1993 new measures guaranteed that holders of Taiwan
passports who normally reside abroad may return and regain
their household registration, a document required for
participation as a candidate in an election.

In late 1993, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) announced that the
"blacklist problem," the listing of overseas dissidents
excluded from returning to Taiwan, no longer existed.  However,
a few foreign supporters of the Taiwan opposition claim that
their entrance remains restricted.

Although dissident leader Ming Shih (see Section 2.a.) returned
to Japan, the Taipei district prosecutor's office indicted him
in October on charges of violating the NSL and forgery because
he had entered Taiwan with an altered passport.  Charges
involving illegal entry as well as document forgery were also
still pending at the district court against independence
activist George Chang.

While the 1992 NSL amendments eased restrictions on the entry
into Taiwan of persons from Taiwan who reside overseas,
relatively tight restrictions on the entry of Chinese from the
mainland remain in force.  The Entry and Exit Bureau states the
restrictions are required to maintain Taiwan's stability and
prosperity (since Taiwan is an attractive destination for
illegal immigration by mainland Chinese who can blend
relatively easily into Taiwan society).  Some 60,000 mainland
Chinese visited Taiwan from November 1988 through the end of
1993; in the same period, 5.5 million trips were made by Taiwan
residents to the mainland.

Taiwan has no law under which noncitizens can ask for asylum.
However, the authorities have been reluctant to return to the
mainland those who might suffer political persecution there.
In 1994 the authorities resettled abroad five
detainees--including student activist Xu Lifang, who had
entered Taiwan in 1991 on a counterfeit Salvadoran passport, as
well as four others who had claimed in 1993 that they had left
the mainland for political reasons.  In general, however,
Taiwan does deport to the mainland, under provisions of the
Mainland Relations Act, those mainlanders who illegally enter
the island.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

In 1994 Taiwan made significant progress in its transition to a
democratic, multiparty political system.  An extraordinary
session of the National Assembly (NA) passed constitutional
amendments which require direct popular election of the
President and the Vice President beginning in 1996.  (The NA,
which meets regularly only every 4 years, has authority over
constitutional revisions.)  Currently these two officials are
elected by the NA.  Other amendments established procedures to
impeach or recall the President and Vice President and to allow
overseas Chinese who return to Taiwan to vote in presidential
elections.  In early July, the Legislative Yuan (LY) passed
legislation which allowed the direct popular election of the
Governor of Taiwan province and the mayors of the two large
cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, all of whom had previously been
appointed by the KMT.  Other democratic advances were Taipei
county's first use of a plebiscite to elicit voter opinion and
its first recall campaign, both of which arose out of a
campaign by the Environmental Protection Alliance against a
proposal to build a fourth nuclear power plant in the county.
Elections for the NA in 1991 and the LY in 1992 allowed voters
to choose directly the full membership of these central
legislative institutions for the first time since the 1940's.

The December gubernatorial and mayoral elections were generally
free and fair and were vigorously contested.  Over 75 percent
of eligible voters participated.  However, allegations of
vote-buying and some campaign violence marred the elections.

The KMT won the first election ever held for governor of Taiwan
province as well as the first election since 1979 for mayor of
Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city.  The DPP won the first
election since 1964 for mayor of Taipei, a race in which the Chinese New Party (CNP), a breakaway KMT faction, came in
second.

While there are now over 70 (mostly very small) political
parties functioning in Taiwan, only 3 of them hold real power:
the Nationalist Party (KMT), the DPP, and the CNP.  The KMT,
although much reduced in size from the days when it was the
only significant party, is still, with 2 million members, by
far the largest.  It also benefits from its domination of the
broadcast media, from ownership of enterprises and business
holdings estimated to be worth in excess of $6 billion, and
from the fact that its members still hold most key positions in
the authorities, sometimes concurrently with important party
positions.

The DPP, established in 1986 even before additional political
parties were legalized, remains the main opposition party; it
has one-third of the members in the LY (50 of 153 at year's
end), holds 7 (of 23) mayor and magistrate posts--including the
mayor of Taipei, and has an estimated 70,000 members.  The CNP,
established in 1993 by younger KMT members who opposed the
KMT's domination by the "mainstream" supporters of Chairman
Lee, holds seven LY seats and claims 44,000 members.  The CNP
demonstrated its strength in northern Taiwan by winning 11 of
the 52 seats on the Taipei municipal council during the
December election.  The DPP and CNP, supported at times by the
five independent legislators, played a major role in the LY
despite the KMT's majority.  During the LY's second session,
beginning in September, for example, the KMT lost its
traditional majorities on the foreign affairs, national
defense, and education committees, giving its political
opponents an increased voice in legislative debates on these
issues.

Following March elections for city and county council speakers
and deputy speakers, Justice Minister Ma Ying-Jeou, supported
by President Lee Teng-Hui, led a widespread crackdown on
election bribery.  More than 330 of the 883 council members who
had been elected in January, along with 131 others were
indicted as a result of this investigation.  The overwhelming
majority of these were KMT members.  Of those indicted, more
than 280 received sentences ranging from a few months to more
than 7 years in prison; the council members remain in office,
however, pending appeals of their sentences to the high court.

The Constitution provides for equal rights for women, but their
role in politics, while increasing, remains limited.  Nevertheless, a number of women hold senior positions in the
Government and the KMT, including Minister without Portfolio
and KMT Central Standing Committee (CSC) member Shirley Kuo (a
former finance minister), KMT Deputy Secretary General and
former CSC member Jeanne Tchong-Kwei Li, the Director General
of the National Health Administration, and one major general in
the armed forces.  In addition, 15 of 153 LY members, 42 of 325
NA members, 13 of 77 provincial assembly members, 3 of 29
Control Yuan members, and 205 of 1,221 judges are women.

Aborigine representatives participate in most levels of the
political system, partially through six reserved seats in the
national and legislative assemblies and two seats in the
provincial assembly--half of each elected by the Plains
Aborigines and half by Mountain Aborigines.  Other appointed
officials who are Aborigines include the chief of the Ministry
of Interior's Aborigine Affairs Section, the deputy director of
the provincial Aborigine Affairs Bureau, and the chairman of
the Pingtung county KMT Committee.  In addition, the elected
magistrate of Taitung county is an aborigine.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The principal human rights organizations are the
establishment-oriented Chinese Association of Human Rights
(CAHR) and the opposition-aligned Taiwan Association for Human
Rights (TAHR).  Coordination between the two bodies is
limited.  Despite the authorities' refusal to register it (see
Section 2.b.), TAHR continues to operate.  Both organizations
investigate human rights complaints, many of which come to
public attention through the media and statements by lawmakers
from all political parties.

The authorities permit representatives of international human
rights organizations to visit Taiwan and meet citizens freely.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution provides for equality of citizens before the
law "irrespective of sex, religion, race, class, or party
affiliation."  Other laws guarantee the rights of disabled
persons.  While the authorities are committed to protecting
these rights, some areas of discrimination continue to exist.

     Women

The law prohibits sex discrimination, and many discriminatory
sections of the Legal Code relating to divorce, property, and
child custody have been eliminated in recent years.  In
September the Council of Grand Justices (CGJ) declared
unconstitutional a Civil Code provision dating back to the
1930's which gives fathers priority in child custody disputes.
However, the CGJ ruling invalidating this provision does not
take effect for 2 years.

Taiwan does not have an equal employment rights law, and
enforcement of existing sex discrimination laws remains a
problem.  Labor laws provide for maternity leave, but employers
do not always grant it.  Women have also complained of being
forced to quit jobs upon marriage or because of age or
pregnancy.  Women often complain of less frequent promotions
and lower salaries than their male counterparts.

Domestic violence, especially wife beating, is a serious
problem.  According to a survey by the Taiwan provincial Social
Affairs Department in March, 17.8 percent of married women have
been beaten by their husbands.  The DPP Women's Development
Committee said other statistics showed 35 percent of married
women were victims of spouse abuse.  The issue was highlighted
by the conviction in February of Teng Ju-Wen, who was sentenced
by the district court to 5 1/2 years in prison for murdering
her husband, despite her claim to have been a victim of her
husband's abuse for many years; her sentence was later reduced
to 3 1/2 years on appeal.  According to Taiwan laws, a
prosecutor may not investigate domestic violence cases until a
spouse files a formal lawsuit.  Although some cases are
prosecuted, strong social pressure discourages abused women
from reporting incidents to the police in order to avoid
disgracing their families.

Rape also remains a serious problem, and its victims are
socially stigmatized.  One expert believes that only 10 percent
of the estimated 7,000 rapes occurring annually are reported to
the police.  Under Taiwan law, the authorities may not
prosecute for rape; only the victim may file a complaint.  The
Criminal Code establishes the punishment for rape as not less
than 5 years' imprisonment, and those convicted are usually
sentenced to from 5 to 10 years in prison.  The standard
practice followed by the MOJ is to assign female prosecutors to
rape cases and to have the cases heard before female judges.
Because rape trials are public, women have been reluctant to prosecute their attackers--although support from feminist and
social welfare organizations has made victims more willing to
come forward and press charges.  In a May demonstration in
Taipei, 1,000 people demanded better legislation to prevent
sex-related crimes and called on the Minister of Education to
resign for failure to handle sexual harassment and rape cases
on college campuses.

In April a group of Taiwan women married to foreigners held a
press conference to claim discrimination because their husbands
are not given residence or working rights in Taiwan and their
children are not allowed to enter public schools.  After the
issue was raised, the authorities announced that foreign
husbands would be allowed to stay in Taiwan for 6 months at a
time rather than being given residence permits for shorter
periods.  The authorities noted that special registration
permits are available to allow the children of Taiwan women
with foreign husbands to attend public schools.  Officials
note, however, that some of these regulations will continue to
exist until nationality laws are amended.

Prostitution, including coerced prostitution and child
prostitution (see below), is also a problem in Taiwan although
there is little public attention to the adult prostitution
issue.  When the police discover illegal prostitution, the
cases are prosecuted according to the Criminal Code.  However,
the authorities do accept the existence of registered houses of
prostitution, especially in urban areas including Taipei and
Kaohsiung.

     Children

The Constitution has provisions to protect children's rights,
and the authorities are committed to support them.  Education
for children between 6 and 15 years of age is compulsory and
enforced.  The Constitution provides that spending on education
shall be no less than 15 percent of the central budget, 25
percent of the provincial and special municipality budgets, and
35 percent of the county and city budgets.

Child prostitution is a serious problem involving between
40,000 and 60,000 children, an estimated 20 percent of them
aboriginal children (see Indigenous People section below).
Most child prostitutes range from 12 through 16 years of age.
The Juvenile Welfare Law enables juvenile welfare bodies,
prosecutors, and victims to apply to courts for termination of
guardianship of parents and the appointment of qualified guardians if parents have forced their children into
prostitution.  If children are engaged in prostitution of their
own free will, and the parents are incapable of providing safe
custody, the courts may order competent authorities to provide
counseling education for not less than 6 months and not more
than 2 years.  However, legal loopholes and cultural barriers
remain obstacles to prosecution.  For example, if both parents
have sold a child into prostitution, the current law requires
the victim to lodge a complaint before prosecution is
undertaken.  In many cases, the child is reluctant or afraid to
do so.  According to some reports, violence, drug addiction,
and other forms of coercion are used by brothel owners to
prevent girls from escaping.  In addition, laws directed
against customers and pimps of child prostitutes are weak.

Child abuse is also a significant problem.  The Chinese Child
Welfare Foundation reported in July that 2,080 child abuse
cases occurred in Taiwan from June 1993 through July 1994--an
increase of 245 from the previous year; the Foundation said
that 80 percent of the abuse came from children's divorced
parents.  The 1993 revision of the Child Welfare Act mandates
that any persons discovering cases of child abuse or neglect
must notify the police, social welfare, or child welfare
authorities, that child welfare specialists must do so within
24 hours, and that the authorities involved must issue an
investigation report within 24 hours.  Both the MOI Social
Affairs Department and private organization specialists assert
that these requirements are being followed.

     Indigenous People

Taiwan's only non-Chinese minority group consists of the
aboriginal descendants of Malayo-Polynesians already
established in Taiwan when the first Chinese settlers arrived.
The ethnic identification of these indigenous people was
clarified in July as the NA passed a constitutional amendment
officially changing their name from "mountain people" to
"Aborigines."  According to Ministry of Interior statistics,
there were 357,000 Aborigines in Taiwan in 1993.  More than 70
percent are Christian.

In general, the civil and political rights of aborigines are
fully protected under law.  The NA amended the Constitution in
1992 to upgrade the status of Aboriginal people, protect their
right of political participation, and ensure cultural,
educational, and business development.  In addition, the
authorities have instituted social programs to help them assimilate into the dominant Chinese society.  As part of its
efforts to preserve ethnic identities, the Ministry of
Education now includes some Aboriginal-language classes in
primary schools.

Although they face no official discrimination, the Aborigines
have had little impact over the years on major decisions
affecting their lands, culture, traditions, and the allocation
of their national resources.  In addition, they complain they
are prevented from owning ancestral lands in mountain areas
under the authorities' control, some of which have been
designated as national parks.  A group held a demonstration at
Taiwan's major tourist site, Taroko Gorge, in October to demand
they be allowed to hunt and raise crops on ancestral lands even
if those lands are now within national parks.  Aborigines claim
also that they face significant cultural and economic
barriers.  The average income of Taiwan's Aborigines remains
less than half of the national average.  According to MOI
statistics, only 52 percent receive elementary educations.
Researchers have found alcoholism to be a significant problem
among the Aborigines, with alcohol addiction rates exceeding 40
percent among members of three of the nine major tribes.
Aborigines are not allowed to use non-Chinese personal names on
legal documents.

The sale of Aboriginal girls by their parents into prostitution
is a serious social problem (see Children section above).  The
authorities have targeted 30 aboriginal villages for visits by
social workers, provision of allowances, and vocational
training to reduce the child prostitution problem.  While the
results of this particular program are not yet available, the
MOI Social Affairs Department points out that the police
discovered fewer cases of child prostitution in 1994 than in
1993, indicating a possible reduction in the problem.

     People with Disabilities

The Disabled Welfare Law was revised and strengthened in 1990.
It prohibits discrimination against the disabled and sets
minimum fines at approximately $2,400 for violators.  New
public buildings, facilities, and transportation equipment must
be accessible to the handicapped.  Existing public buildings
are to be brought into conformity by 1995.

The MOI changed its official statistics in 1994 to show more
than 280,000 disabled people in Taiwan rather than the 230,000
it recognized in 1993.  A leading expert in the field, however, noted that, although the statistics have changed, the actual
number of disabled is far larger than 280,000.  The true figure
is probably between 400,000 and 500,000--possibly as high as
700,000.  One-third of the disabled are severely handicapped
and receive shelter or nursing care from the authorities.

The Disabled Welfare Law requires large government and private
organizations to hire disabled persons, 2 and 1 percent of
their work forces respectively.  Organizations failing to do so
must pay, for each disabled person not hired, the basic monthly
salary (approximately $540) into the Disabled Welfare Fund,
which supports institutions involved in welfare for the
disabled.  However, many organizations complain that it is
difficult to find qualified disabled workers and appear to
prefer to pay the fines involved.  The authorities have noted
the impact of a traditional belief that the disabled lack the
ability to do real work.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

A number of laws and regulations limit the right of
association.  Labor unions may draw up their own rules and
constitutions, but they must submit these to the authorities
for review.  Unions may be dissolved if they do not meet
certification requirements or if their activities disturb
public order.  According to the authorities, no unions have
been dissolved, although certification of new unions was denied
in several cases during 1994 because competing unions were
already in existence.  The Labor Union Law prohibits civil
servants, teachers, and defense industry workers from
organizing and bars administrative staff who act on behalf of
employers from joining labor unions.

The Labor Union Law requires that union leaders be elected
regularly by secret ballot, and, in recent years, workers have
sometimes rejected KMT or management-endorsed union slates.
Some workers have established independent unions and
federations under other names, such as "friendship
organizations" and "brotherhood alliances."  These groups may
register with the MOI as legal civic organizations but not as
labor unions; thus they are not protected by the Labor Union
Law and do not have the right to bargain with their members'
employers.

Unions may form confederations, but no administrative district,
including a city, county, or province, can have competing labor
confederations; therefore there is only one Taiwan-wide labor
federation:  the Chinese Federation of Labor (CFL).  The CFL is
closely associated with the KMT.  A standing member of the
CFL's board of directors is a member of the KMT's Central
Standing Committee.  The restriction on island-wide unions was
challenged, however, in September when 12 unions from state-run
enterprises announced they would withdraw from the CFL and
establish a new national federation of labor unions of
state-run enterprises.  Of the CFL's 2.9 million members, more
than 300,000 work at state-run enterprises.  The drive for
independent labor unions lost momentum in recent years due to
generally higher wages, tougher tactics on the part of
employers, the small scale and poor organization of most
unions, and prosecution of labor activists by the authorities
in the past.  No labor activists were charged during 1994.

Taiwan is not a member of the International Labor
Organization.  The CFL is affiliated with the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

Except for the categories of workers noted in Section 6.a.
above, the Labor Union Law and the Settlement of Labor Disputes
Law give workers the right to organize and bargain
collectively.  As of June, some 3.3 million workers,
approximately 35 percent of Taiwan's 9-million labor force,
belonged to 3,654 registered labor unions.

Under the Labor Union Law, employers may not refuse employment
to, dismiss, or otherwise unfairly treat workers because they
are union members.  In practice, however, union leaders have
sometimes been dismissed without reasonable cause by employers,
and observers point out that the law sets no specific penalties
for violations.  According to the National Federation of
Independent Trade Unionists, about 400 trade unionists and
supporters have been fired since Taiwan's labor movement began
to expand after the 1987 lifting of martial law.  Some
observers believe that the firing of seven Evergreen Heavy
Industries union leaders in August was in fact due to their
union activities.

The Collective Agreements Law provides for collective
bargaining but does not make it mandatory.  Since such
agreements are made only in large-scale enterprises, and less than 5 percent of Taiwan's enterprises fall into this category,
the proportion of workers covered remains small.  Employers set
wages generally in accordance with market conditions.

The law governing labor disputes recognizes the right of unions
to strike but imposes restrictions that make legal strikes
difficult and seriously weaken collective bargaining.  For
example, the authorities require involuntary mediation of
labor/management disputes when they deem the disputes to be
sufficiently serious or to involve "unfair practices."  The law
forbids both labor and management from disrupting the "working
order" when either mediation or arbitration is in progress.
The law mandates stiff penalties for violations of
no-strike/no-retaliation clauses, but employers have sometimes
ignored the law and dismissed or locked out workers without any
legal action being taken against them.  According to a January
press report, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said that from
1990 to September 1993, there were 30 strikes, of which 22
involved workers at bus companies asking for increased pay and
reduced hours.  (The CLA carries out the functions of a labor
ministry but lacks cabinet rank.)

Firms in export processing zones are subject to the same laws
regarding treatment of labor unions as other firms and follow
normal practices in concluding collective bargaining agreements
with their unions.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Labor Standards Law prohibits forced or compulsory labor.
There have been no reports of these practices.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The Labor Standards Law stipulates age 15, after compulsory
education required by law ends, as the minimum age for
employment.  As a result, child labor remains at a very low
level.  County and city labor bureaus enforce minimum age
laws.  As of October, 11,915 workers between the ages of 15 and
16 were employed by manufacturing industries.