DPP unveils new immigrant committee

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen, third right, yesterday presents a certificate to TV star Tran Thi Hoang Phuon, third left, a lecturer in Vietnamese at National Chengchi University, for serving as chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party’s new immigrant committee.

Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Members of a new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) committee on immigrants were inaugurated yesterday to advise the party on immigration issues amid rapid growth in the number of immigrants living in Taiwan.

The committee was established to address the needs of new immigrants, which make up the fifth-largest ethnic group in the nation, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at a ceremony held at DPP headquarters in Taipei.

The DPP was the first party to commit itself to issues relating to Aborigines and the party’s new immigrant committee is another step forward, said Tsai, who doubles as DPP chair.

“The number of immigrants has reached nearly 500,000 and the number of their children is more than 350,000. As a party responsive to public opinion and emphasizing ethnic pluralism, the DPP has to address the needs and opinions of new immigrants,” Tsai said.

The committee would help the nation become more multicultural and tolerant, as well as promoting exchanges with other cultures, she said.

Twelve committee members were announced yesterday, including TV star Tran Thi Hoang Phuong; Changhua County New Immigrants Association director Lee Meng-han (李孟涵); Indonesian lecturer Hung Ching-ching (洪晶晶); Thai dancer Hsu Chen-ni (許珍妮); Chang Yi-hui (張義惠), a member of a women’s group who supported Tsai’s presidential campaign; and Hualien County New Immigrant Association director Hung Yu (洪玉).

Chinese immigrant Ning Jiarong (寧家榮), the founder of a cosmetics company; and National Chi Nan University professor Ho Ching-jung (何景榮), an Indonesian-Taiwanese, were also named.

The other committee members are experts on immigration issues — DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青); women’s rights campaigner Tsai Shun-jou (蔡順柔); National Cheng Kung University professor Tan Le-kun (陳麗君); and National Kaohsiung University professor Ho Ching-jung (何青蓉).

Tran, who is to be chairwoman, said the establishment of the committee shows that the nation’s leadership has attached great importance to issues concerning immigrants.

A wider participation of immigrants in the nation’s decisionmaking process would harness the creativity of immigrants, Tran said.

Ning, a former member of the Chinese Communist Party, said she had withdrawn from the party and obtained Republic of China citizenship.

Her work on the committee would see her address issues that concern Chinese spouses living in Taiwan, such as the relatively longer process for Chinese spouses to obtain citizenship compared with immigrants from other nations.

There are 330,000 Chinese spouses in Taiwan and their rights have improved over the years, and she would seek further improvements, despite the “historical factors,” Ning said.

Immigrate to Canada

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Suspend Visa-Free EU Travel For U.S. Citizens, Lawmakers Say

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eu-travel-via-us-citizens_us_58b83187e4b0a8ded67aceea

A Love Too Good For America

If I told you about all the unqualified ex-pats teaching ESL here in Taiwan, you would realize that you, and everyone of my friends, would do much better than them at a profession that brings in $15-20 an hour. The non-English speaking world is in need of progressive people to guide them through the exploitation they experience from imperialism. Many Latin American nations need such activists willing to cut American and NATO domination off at the pass. There is no advantage I have, my so called "economic means," that would disable you from taking the exodus like millions of ex-pats have done. It is far cheaper to fly to Cuba or Venezuela, if you speak Spanish, where the cost of living is low. For example, here in Taiwan, you can rent a studio in Taipei for $400 a month, eat well for $5 a day, transportation at 75 cents a trip, work under the table, as most do, leave to renew a visa, or, in your case, well-qualified as you are, have a sponsor get you a work permit and Alien Resident Card, not to mention full Universal Health Care. My second language is Mandarin so I live here or China. It is true that the U.S. needs activists to fight capitalism, as it always has, but how long can you struggle without giving the front line to the younger generation who must, in the millions, get out in the streets, organize their communities, join grassroot organizations, or go underground? Most importantly, as in my case, you can participate in the struggle overseas by communicatng via the internet, donating, and enlightening your neighbors who are barraged with propaganda we in the movement know to be false. As FDR said,"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." You and other activists, who may emigrate with only the shirts on their backs, will soon find a wardrobe of possibilities overseas. You have a love too good for America.

Taiwan Ministry clarifies rules for children of foreigners

Ministry clarifies rules for children of foreigners

Staff writer, with CNA

Children of foreign professionals in Taiwan can apply to stay in the nation after turning 20, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday, dispelling rumors that such people would be forced to leave.

Speaking at a regular news briefing, National Immigration Agency deputy head Jeff Yang (楊家駿) said that those aged under 20 can apply to remain in Taiwan with their parents who are working in the nation if they meet certain requirements, citing amendments to the Regulations Governing Visiting, Residency and Permanent Residency of Aliens (外國人停留居留及永久居留辦法), which took effect in April 2014.

The agency sends letters to those who are nearing the age of 20 to remind them that they can apply to remain in Taiwan, Yang said.

However, there have been only a few such applications in the past few years, he said.

His remarks came in response to Internet rumors that children of foreign professionals in Taiwan cannot remain after they reach the age of 20, forcing them to part with their families and affecting their career plans.

Foreign nationals permitted to reside in Taiwan who reach the age of 20 with at least one parent holding an Alien Resident Certificate or Alien Permanent Resident Certificate can apply for an extension of residency if they qualify, according to the regulations.

To qualify, an applicant must have “stayed in Taiwan for an accumulated 10 years in total and resid[ed] for over 270 days each year; [have] entered Taiwan under the age of 16 and stayed over 270 days each year;” or been “born in Taiwan, having resided in Taiwan for a minimum accumulated period of at least 10 years in total and having stayed over 183 days each year,” according to Article 8 of the regulations.

If their applications are approved, they will be granted a three-year extension to stay in Taiwan, the regulations say.

A second extension of three years is possible, meaning they could remain for up to six years, the regulations say.

The ministry said that the amendments were made as an incentive to attract more foreign professionals to work in Taiwan on a long-term basis.

The U.S. goes fascist. How do you escape?

October 21, 2016

Dear Cecil:

Any guidance for those who fear a fascist takeover of the United States and think they may need to get out in a hurry? What countries will accept political refugees from the U.S. on short notice? What’s the easiest way to get your money out of the country in advance? Are there people who will arrange to ship one's art collection overseas, no questions asked?

— Albert Ettinger

Cecil replies:

I’m happy to note, Al, that the odds of a fascist takeover look somewhat slimmer than they did when your question arrived a few weeks back. Even so, one has to deal with the tension somehow as this debilitating campaign enters its final stretch: for some, that may mean constantly re-refreshing poll-tracking sites; for others, evidently, it means packing the bags and setting ’em by the door. The bad news for blue-state types ready to scram on November 9 is that things will have to get really scary before any old American citizen can pass as a political refugee. The good news? That leaves more time to plan your exciting new life abroad and find a safe harbor for you and your money. Well, most of your money.

A refugee, you see, has to persuade some kindly foreign government that she has, per UN convention, a “well-founded fear” of persecution because of “race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” The election of an unqualified bully as chief exec won’t in itself do the trick, and even if President Trump concluded his inaugural address with a declaration of martial law, you’d still have to demonstrate you’re a likely target of government oppression. Finding yourself on a national database of Muslim Americans might not even be enough until federal goons actually start rounding up the registrants.

Where to flee to? If you’re concerned about Trump, I can’t imagine you’re a big Putin fan, so following Edward Snowden to Russia is probably a no-go. Closer to home, Canada’s liberal refugee policy doesn’t mean they’ve been overly sympathetic to putatively oppressed Americans. A black American, Kyle Canty, who’d argued he was endangered by racially motivated police violence in the U.S. lost his Canadian asylum bid in January. But you never know. In 2014 Canadian immigration officials ruled that a Florida court’s 30-year prison sentence for having sex with a 16-year-old boy was excessive and let U.S. citizen Denise Harvey stay up north.

Assuming a long, slow slide into totalitarian hell for the U.S. rather than a sudden putsch, consider less urgent forms of emigration. Line up employment in Canada beforehand, for instance — they’re much more welcoming to foreigners seeking a work visa than we are, and if you’ve got the right skills (plus enough cash savings to ensure that you won’t beeline onto the dole) they might open their doors even before you score a job offer. Then again, if you’ve really got some extra bucks in the bank, invest in a business overseas — most countries just love deep-pocketed foreign entrepreneurs.

Staying in your new nation is potentially trickier than getting in — one pink slip and it could be back to the U.S. with you, freeloader. If you plan on marrying into citizenship, choose your destination wisely: wedding your Saskatchewanian sweetie, for instance, doesn’t put you on the fast track to becoming a naturalized Canadian. Most European nations are more accommodating to foreign-born spouses, though, and if you tie the knot with an obliging Brazilian, full citizenship can be yours within a year. Some countries might grant you citizenship based on descent: the Law of Return permits Jews to relocate in Israel, and if one of your grandparents was born in Ireland there’s a process for repatriation to the auld sod.

With enough assets at your disposal, even if you’re on the lam, you don’t have to live like a refugee. But you may find foreign banks increasingly more reluctant to take your cash — following the passage of a 2010 U.S. law demanding stricter reporting on the financial doings of Americans living abroad, many overseas institutions have decided we aren’t worth the effort. If you’re the particularly suspicious sort, you could get more creative — buy a foreign gold certificate, or dive into the murky world of Bitcoin.

As for your art collection — for a displaced person, Al, you certainly are a high roller — some governments will indeed demand a sizable chunk of its value. Sweden might otherwise be a dream relocation site, but you’d have to cough up a 25 percent value-added tax. Certainly there are shady professionals who can assist, but immigration officials prefer their admittees with clean hands, and a smuggling racket is a good way to make a bad (read: extraditable) first impression.

Though we hear the same talk about moving to Canada or Europe every four years, evidence suggests few Americans actually skedaddle after the wrong candidate gets elected. This year the big difference is that the people most likely endangered by a Trump victory are the ones who really want to stick around. It’d be cruelly ironic if the subjects of mass deportation were to find a mess of American expats waiting for them in Mexico.

— Cecil Adams

THE LONG HISTORY OF CHINESE JEWS

By Dusty Sklar on October 25, 2016.

by Dusty Sklar

ONE OFTEN HEARS the Chinese, especially those who live in the huge international Chinese diaspora, being referred to as the “Jews of the Orient” and labelled with stereotypes similar to those that have been used to insult Jews. According to Christopher Hale, a media producer in Singapore, a book of that title by the King Rama VI of Siam, who came to the throne in 1910, “claimed that the Chinese exhibited all the notorious (and mythological) traits of European Jews: they cultivated clannish international networks; were reluctant to assimilate; they were clever and greedy financiers; they despised their hosts . . .”

What about the Jewish diaspora in China? One historian, Alfred Edelsheim, believes that Jews came there from Persia after the Roman general Titus invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in the 1st century CE. Other scholars mark the earliest appearance of Jews in China  at the time of the Tang dynasty, beginning in 718.  Several letters dating from then, probably written by Jewish traders, on Chinese paper in Hebrew and Judeo-Persian, had been found in northwest China. It’s certainly likely that the Tang Dynasty had the first settled Jewish community: Persian merchants probably came to the city of Xi’an, where a Chinese poem of the era mentions them living.

An Islamic traveler, Aboul Zeyd al Hassan, reported a massacre of foreigners in Canton towards the end of the Tang dynasty. The main motive behind the murder of as many as 120,000 Muslim Arabs, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians was believed to be resentment of their wealth.

But most scholars hold that Jews came during the Northern Song Dynasty, which began in 960. They may have come from Bukhara, a city in Uzbekistan that was once a part of Persia. It was to Kaifeng, then a cosmopolitan capital on a branch of the Silk Road, that they came; an inscription on a stone tablet, originating centuries later in 1489, bears witness to the arrival of seventy Jewish families.

FOR HUNDREDS of years, the Silk Road linked East and West.  It was the main avenue of trade between China and India, Persia, Arabia, and Europe and Africa by way of the Mediterranean coast — most of which countries had Jewish merchants eager to trade internationally. Kaifeng is thought to have had the largest population of Jews in China, who for the first eight or nine generations gave their children Hebrew names.  In 1163, Kaifeng Jews built the Purity and Truth Synagogue, the first in the region, at the intersection of Earth Market and Fire God Streets, and in 1489 they installed in its courtyard the stone tablet engraved with the emperor’s words: “You have come to our China. Honor and observe the customs of your ancestors.” This monument is now in the municipal museum of Kaifeng.

Jews apparently flourished in Kaifeng until the 17th century, assimilating into the Chinese culture yet preserving some semblance of their Jewish identity until the 1840s, when their synagogue was devastated by an earthquake. Another building now stands on the site, along with a stele dating from the Middle Ages. Carved into it are inscriptions, no longer legible,  pertaining to the community’s most important events. A Jesuit visiting in the early 1700s,estimated the Jewish population at two or three thousand. For some reason, the surviving records and artifacts have long since been given to Great Britain and the United States. The Hebrew Union College library in Cincinnati houses two Torah scrolls. In 1851, when European missionaries came into possession of a 17th-century Hebrew Torah, few Kaifeng Jews could read it, and it was donated to the British Museum.

Kaifeng still has a street called Nan-Xuejing Hutong, meaning South Studying-the-Scriptures Lane, which used to be home to the Jewish community. Today, there are believed to be 2,500 Jews in Kaifeng. Physically they are indistinguishable from other Chinese. Yet some still observe the prohibition against the eating of pork.

WHEN THE MONGOLS invaded the city in 1233, they bestowed bureaucratic positions on foreigners, including Jews, in order to diminish the power of the Chinese. As a 1280 decree reveals, the Mongols also banned all Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter, which the emperor felt was insulting to him: Meat fit for him should surely be good for Jews and Muslims!

Marco Polo reported finding Jews in Beijing in 1286. Several other Chinese cities, at least six in the 17th century, housed Jews, but less is known about them and they don’t appear to have lasted as long as the Keifeng Jews.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a Ming emperor assigned seven surnames to Jews, by which they are still known today: Ai, Shi, Gao, Jin, Li, Zhang, and Zhao. Of these, Jin and Shi are reminiscent of Western Jewish names: Gold and Stone. The 1489 inscription lists seven others: Yen, Kao, Mu, Huang, Nie, An, Zuo, Bai, and Zhou. Apparently, only seven names survived after 1642.

In the late 19th century, the Russian government decided to build a railway to Eastern Asia and sought people to populate the cities there. They particularly encouraged Jews, who were eager to escape the pogroms in the Pale of Settlement. Jews were encouraged to settle in Harbin, and by 1908, 8,000 of them had done so.

Shanghai, too, became attractive to Ashkenazim experiencing repression in Eastern Europe. Russian Jews, escaping the massacres under the tsar, built the Ohel Moishe Synagogue in Shanghai in 1907. Sephardim, coming as early as 1845 from Baghdad, Bombay, and Cairo, outnumbered them. Wealthy Sephardic merchants eventually became the elite. The Russian revolution of 1917 brought more Jews to Shanghai, and the 1930s and 1940s brought refugees from Nazi Germany, bringing the Shanghai population of Jews to 25,000.  Shanghai was a free port and did not require visas.  Between 1933 and 1941, 14,000 Jewish refugees, fleeing from the Nazis, lived in the “Designated Area for Stateless Refugees.”

The Japanese captured Shanghai in 1937, and in December of 1941, closed it to further immigration. They consigned most Jews to unsanitary camps, to which they added transferred Japanese Jews. After the war, most of those Jews fled to the United States, Great Britain, Israel, and Australia.

Out of a thousand Jews living in Kaifeng today, only a hundred or two hundred are active in the culture. The present Chinese government is cracking down on them in its campaign against non-licensed religions (they approve Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Taoism): Organizations that are trying to help rebuild the Jewish community have been shut down, and the government has gone so far as to forbid gatherings for Jewish holidays, closed Hebrew and Judaism classes, and taken away Jewish historical signs and objects from public spaces. Jews are still permitted to get together to pray in small groups, but the government is keeping a watchful eye on them.

Some residents have migrated to Israel. The Kaifeng Jews are not automatically recognized by Israel under the Law of Return, however.

“You don’t recognize me as a Jew,” one of them recently told Chris Buckley of the New York Times, “but I recognize myself as a Jew, and that’s what is most important.”

Dusty Sklar is a contributing writer to our magazine and the author of Gods and Beasts: The Nazis and the Occult,as well as numerous stories and articles. Her recent articles for us have dealt with David Ben Gurion and the Arabs, and Louis Brandeis, the “Jewish Jefferson.”