President Tsai Ing-wen (front row, fifth left), Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (front row, fourth left), civic leaders and diplomats attend an event celebrating immigrants’ contributions Dec. 17 in Taipei. (CNA)

President Tsai Ing-wen celebrated the contributions of immigrants at a festival Dec. 17 in Taipei City, praising the new residents and pledging that the government will continually strive to ensure Taiwan remains a pluralistic and inclusive society.
 
Organized by the National Immigration Agency under the Ministry of the Interior, the event took place ahead of International Migrants Day, held every Dec. 18.  The U.N. General Assembly appointed the day in December 2000 to call attention to the large and multiplying number of migrants all over the world and help safeguard their rights.
 
Tsai indicated her administration is continuing to enhance exchanges with South and Southeast Asian countries as well as Australia and New Zealand in line with the New Southbound Policy. “The exchanges not only focus on trade and the economy, but also culture and talent,” she emphasized.
 
The president said the government’s determination to encourage talent exchanges is highlighted by efforts to eliminate unreasonable restrictions on immigrants and migrant workers who are all part of Taiwan society.

Recently, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Employment Service Act making it so blue-collar foreign workers are no longer required to leave the nation every three years. Also, thanks to revisions made to the Nationality Act, foreign spouses do not need to provide evidence of their financial status when applying to become Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens, as was the case under the previous system.
 
In order to emphasize the importance of cross-cultural understanding, the Ministry of Education will include seven Southeast Asian languages as elective subjects in school curriculums beginning from the 2018 academic year.
 
Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong, who also attended the event, said the number of foreign and mainland Chinese spouses in Taiwan had surpassed 510,000 as of November, and more than 360,000 children have at least one foreign-born parent. He said he hopes these individuals will take advantage of their cultural and linguistic backgrounds to inject fresh momentum and vitality into local society. (KH-E)
 
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